The Heroes of the Fairy Dance
by Firelord67
Summary: The SAO Magical Girl spinoff that about twenty people asked for! Suguha Kirigaya is a normal fifteen-year-old with normal problems. That is until an odd little pixie shows up and turns her into a Magical Girl! Now, it's up to her to assemble a team of heroes to defeat the evil Kayaba and save the world. And marry her brother! Kudos to SaintInfernalNeos for the concept
1. Leafa

_Across the globe, people adore the concept of the Magical Girl. Normal teenagers, who come across extraordinary power, to battle mighty evils. This tale is told time and time again, with all kinds of strange and wonderful variations. And now, in an alternate universe, the world of Sword Art Online is about to be given its very own Magical Girls..._

Suguha Kirigaya was what you would expect when you thought of your average middle school girl. It was the end of the day, and the girl was currently packing her things up.

"Man, I am never coming to school that early ever again for another 'extreme' Kendo practice with the club," said the bluish-gray eyed girl, passing a hand over her dark hair as she tiredly stood up, her uniform hugging her "surprisingly developed" body in a very interesting way.

"Hey, Kirigaya?" said one of the female students looking out the window. "Isn't that guy at the gate your brother?"

As soon as the girl finished speaking, an abnormally fast blur shoot past her, out the class, into the hall, and straight to the gate.

"Seriously, who's ever _that _excited to see their brother?" said another student.

"Besides Eromanga-sensei you mean?"

"I think it's best not to think so hard about that,"

Meanwhile, a boy in the same grade as Suguha with thin-rimmed glasses was wistfully looking into the sky with determination.

_Okay Shinichi, today's the day that you finally tell Suguha-chan how you feel! _He thought to himself. He turned around just in time to see Suguha dashing past him.

"HiNagataKunGoodbyeSeeyaMonday!" she exclaimed before he could get a word out. And just like that, she was gone.

_Okay, maybe it's a better idea to just leave a note in her locker._

Meanwhile, once she was close enough to the gate, Suguha quickly stopped, coughed in her hand, made sure her hair and clothes were in order, before calmly walking forward with a collected expression.

"Hey, Sugu!"

"Oni-chan? What a surprise!" said Suguha with "total surprise," as she hugged her brother. Kazuto Kirigaya chuckled as he hugged her back, not noticing the seven other girls staring at him. The black-haired boy was always infamously oblivious to those around him.

"Sorry about that," he said, "I just wanted to surprise you by taking you home today,"

Since their parents died in a car crash when they were infants, Kazuto and Suguha have been living together with their Aunt.

"Y-you didn't have to, Oni-chan... but thank you," Suguha blushed dreamily as she imagined a glittery background behind him. For some reason, she really likes doing that.

Did I mention that she somehow managed to fall madly in love with him at age 12? Three years later, and it's the most obvious thing in the world. At least, for anyone except him. If you haven't figured it out, he has a weird tendency to not notice the obvious.

"Anyway, let's go home!" he said, handing her a helmet and hopping onto his motorbike.

_Meanwhile..._

"Kuradeel!" exclaimed the towering figure in a red cloak. "Are the Kobolds ready?"

"Yes, your highness. Illfang is rehearsing with them now," replied the middle-aged man.

"Excellent,"

"Um, what about you-know-who? Shouldn't we try and find her?"

The king laughed and said, "Oh, don't worry. How much trouble can one little pixie cause?"

_At the Kirigaya household._

Suguha pulled out her shinai and got ready to practice. She sighed as Kazuto furiously typed at his computer, working on his game. Kazuto had always loved video games and was already on a path to become a great indie developer.

_Someday, Oni-chan. Someday I'll tell you how I feel. Heck, we'd probably get married in just a few years..._

As the girl swung her sword about, she lost track of time. Eventually, Kazuto went to bed, leaving Suguha on her own. While she was used to practicing late, she was not expecting what happened next...

CLANG! CLANG!

Suguha looked around in surprise. She thought she heard something knocking on the window.

CLANG!

There it was again. She walked over to the glass pane but didn't see anything. Out of curiosity, she opened the window a little bit. As soon as she did, a pink blur shot right through the gap between the window and the windowsill and landed smack on the floor.

Suguha gasped when she realized that the blur was actually a tiny 8-centimeter tall little girl, with pink wings, black hair, and a pink flower-like dress.

"What the... little girl... small..." stuttered Suguha. The little girl looked at her.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, dusting herself off. "Excuse my manners. I'm Yui," she bowed respectfully while hovering a foot in the air.

"Uh... hi?" Suguha said, quite stunned.

Yui looked at the girl strangely.

"Are you alright? You look you just saw a ghost,"

Suguha blinked. Yui was still there.

"Oh my gosh... there's a fairy in my dojo..."

"Hey! I'm not a fairy, I'm a pixie!"

"Even still, this is pretty weird..." Suguha rubbed her temples.

Yui cleared her throat.

"Anyway, let's get started!"

"Huh?" Suguha wondered. Yui floated over to her shinai, which was lying on the ground.

"What are you doing?" asked Suguha.

"Is this yours?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Good. Now, hold it up"

"Why?" Suguha asked, as she picked up the weapon and held it upwards.

"Cause I need to enchant it before Illfang gets here,"

"Illfang?"

"No more questions, we've got no time to lose!" Yui touched the tip of Suguha's shinai. "Link Start!"

As soon as Yui said the words, the sword started to glow a bright green color.

"What the..." Suguha stuttered.

"It worked!" exclaimed Yui, "Now let's hope the transformation goes well!"

Suguha was about to say something when she suddenly found that she couldn't speak. Everything around her seemed to disappear and was replaced by a sea of green colors. Light engulfed her sword and it grew longer, shinier, and jewels appeared on the guard. It changed into a powerful-looking actual sword made of metal, with a green emerald just underneath the blade.

Suguha suddenly regained her speech, just as unexpectedly as when she lost it. The colors faded and the enchanted sword was in her hands.

"W-what the heck was th-that?" she exclaimed

Yui examined her in confusion.

"Weird, it only transformed the sword. I guess it still has a few bugs..."

Suguha grabbed the tiny pixie and yelled in her face.

"WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?!"

"Uh, I think you should be more concerned with that!" Yui said as she pointed out the window again.

Suguha looked and gasped. Outside the window was a huge red face that resembled a mix between a lizard and dog with glowing red eyes, staring right at the two of them.

"AH!" Suguha shrieked.

"It's Illfang the Kobold Lord!" exclaimed Yui.

"Well, well, well." Illfang grinned, "Looks like I found the annoying little fairy,"

"Pixie," Yui corrected.

"Don't care," said Illfang. "And who's the hottie?" he wiggled his eyebrows at Suguha.

"I'm fifteen, and I'm already in love with someone else," Suguha said quickly,

"Darn it," said Illfang. "Oh well, now how about you hand over the fairy?"

"Pixie," said Yui.

"Why should I?" asked Suguha,

"Because if you don't, I'll kill you and everyone you love!" Illfang pulled out his ax to show he meant business.

"I wouldn't make threats like that!" Yui announced, "Because this girl is a user!"

"A what-now?" asked Suguha,

"Hah! She looks nothing like a user!" Illfang taunted

"The transformation still has a couple of bugs," Yui admitted, "But that doesn't matter, she still has an enchanted weapon!"

"Oh yeah, what exactly does that mean?" asked Suguha.

"It means it's magical, and it's the only thing that can kill Illfang,"

Illfang laughed.

"You're so clueless!"

He punched the window with his huge hand and it shattered. Then he grabbed Yui by the legs.

"Hey!" complained Yui.

"You let her go this instant!" said Suguha, holding the sword out. Despite not knowing whatever the heck was going on, she still wasn't about to let a little girl get hurt.

"Catch me if you can!" said Illfang. He dashed away at a surprising speed. Suguha could now see his rather impressive full height of about 4 and a half meters tall.

"Oh no, you don't!" Suguha jumped out the window after him.

_One chase scene later._

After Suguha had somehow managed to catch up to Illfang, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Hehe, take your stupid little fairy," he cackled. He tossed a weak Yui at Suguha.

"Pixie..." Yui groaned weakly.

Suguha grunted and drew her sword.

"Trying to be the hero, aren't you?" joked Illfang.

"Actually, I have no idea who you are, what's going on, or what I'm doing. I'm just making this up as I go along"

Illfang chuckled.

"Go" he boomed. "Ruin Kobold Sentinels! Lay waste to that pathetic excuse for a user!"

At once, smaller Kobolds started appearing out of bushes and trash cans all around them.

"Ah!" screamed Suguha, "What do I do!?"

"Aren't you a kendoka?"

"Oh right," Suguha calmed down a bit. She swung her new sword and sliced through one of the Kobolds like butter.

"WHAT THE...?"

"Kobolds are really weak monsters," said Yui,

"Oh..." Suguha dashed about, annihilating Kobold after Kobold, not even getting a single hit on her.

"You know, killing these guys is so easy that I'm starting to feel kinda bad about it..."

"Oh don't worry. Unlike Illfang, they don't emotions programmed in so they can't feel any pain or grief," Yui assured her.

"Programmed?"

"Oh right, I should probably explain there's a giant monster attacking"

As Suguha continued with her attack, Yui started explaining everything.

"You see, there's a guy called Kayaba Akihiko, and he figured out how to bring virtual creatures into the real world,"

"Virtual creatures?"

"Artificial intelligence. Illfang and Kobolds aren't actual monsters, they're just code that was brought into reality. Kind of like video game creatures."

"Okay, but why would he bring evil ones into the real world?"

"He made them, so he can make them do whatever he wants. So he's using them to form a powerful army so he can..."

"Hold the phone!" Suguha said, pausing her Kobold massacre, "He's not trying to collect negative energy or something, is he?"

"What, no! That's ridiculous!" Yui shook her head, "Kayaba wants them to open a gigantic portal he can bring his floating castle into the real world!" Yui started speaking in a dramatic voice, "Then he's going to rain hell upon the human race and burn all civilizations to the ground so he can build a new one on top!"

"Okay, that's bad,"

"What gave you that other idea anyway?"

"That's typically how it goes with magical pixies and transformation sequences. At least in 3rd rate magical girl anime..."

Yui's eyes widened.

"That's it!" she exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"There wasn't a bug in the transformation sequence! I just forgot that you needed a username!"

"Username?"

"Exactly! Now, say... I don't know... "Leafa"?"

"Leafa?"

After this exchange, Suguha's sword seemed to interpret this as "Username: Leafa," and reacted accordingly. Once again, everything around her disappeared and was replaced with the same lime green color. Fantasy-like music played as green "ribbons" of energy exploded out of the ruby in her sword.

Weaving around her hands and feet, the shining energy became white fabric, and then stylish white gloves and boots, with green lines decorating them. As her arms spread to the sides on their own accord, the energy engulfed her torso and turning into a mostly white and green outfit with a skirt, which exposed her lower chest, midsection, and part of her cleavage. A red bow appeared around her neck.

Her hair seemed to grow longer and turned a golden yellow before a piece of white fabric appeared and tied it into a ponytail. Finally, she opened her now green eyes and grasped her sword, while growing a pair of clear green wings on her back.

Then, for some reason, her body took control of itself and she spun in place before striking a "cute" pose and exclaiming

"The winds of the earth are at my fingertips! Leafa, the Sorceress of Swords!"

The newborn magical girl blinked a few times before she realized that her body was under her own control again.

"THE HECK?" she exclaimed.

"THE HECK?" exclaimed Illfang and the Kobolds.

"Hah!" Yui cheered, "I knew that watching Sailor Moon was a good idea! Every good magical girl has a cool name!"

She pulled out a small tape recorder.

"Observation #1: To initiate the full transformation, the user must state their username. However, the weapon can transform regardless,"

"Uh..." Illfang hesitated. "Well, that was something."

Suguha, or should I say, Leafa, examined her new outfit. Then, quite surprisingly, she started to grin.

"I think it's time to serve up some justice!" she said.

Leafa dashed at Illfang at a speed faster than you can read this sentence. Then she jumped up to his face and kicked him with unimaginable force.

"OUCH!" Illfang screamed. Then he growled and gripped his ax. "You just earned yourself a one-way ticket to ax-town!"

"Bring it on, dogface!" exclaimed Leafa. "I'll show you what happens when you mess with innocent people! Time for a serious beatdown from yours truly!" she struck another pose.

"Uh, where did that confidence come from?" asked Illfang.

"I don't know," Leafa chuckled. "All I know is that I want the innocent protected, and the evil punished!"

And another pose.

Yui pulled out her tape recorder again.

"Observation #2: The transformation not only seems to affect the appearance and powers of the subject but also their personality. The shy and serious Suguha has become a confident and witty Leafa. As to what this could entail, I have no idea,"

"Winds of Fury!" Leafa acted as if she had rehearsed all of this. She twirled her sword like a baton, and powerful gusts of air flew from the spinning weapon.

The Winds of Fury grew into strong gales and Illfang braced himself against them. His minions were not so lucky, and they got blown into oblivion.

"NO!" he exclaimed. "Darn it! Stupid Kayaba didn't program the minion respawner! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use my ultimate technique!"

Illfang dropped his ax and shield and grabbed the sword behind his back.

"Behold, the Kobold Odachi!" He jumped up and hopped from rooftop to rooftop, getting faster and faster until finally yelling "Super Hyper Kobold Mega Jump Attack!"

Leafa yawned as the huge Kobold flew at her.

"Sheesh, that was so silly that I'm not remotely intimidated. You should make your attacks less verbose. For example, Sylph Slash!"

Leafa's sword glowed brightly and she used it to draw an X shape in the air and launched it at Illfang. The attack stopped Illfang in mid-air with a satisfying WHAM!

With no more inertia, Illfang plummeted to the ground.

"OW!" he yelled. "I'll get you for that!"

"Not today!" Leafa cried out. She dashed straight past the Kobold Lord, slashing him deep with her sword as she whizzed by.

"ARGH!" exclaimed Illfang. Leafa turned around to repeat the process. He tried to block or attack her with his odachi, but she was just too fast. She kept up the pace, landing blow after blow on his large red body. Eventually, Illfang started to get tired, and Leafa made her final attack. She jumped fifteen meters in the air and brought her sword down on him.

"Ariel Ace!" she yelled, as her sword forced into Illfang like a chisel.

Illfang gave out one last scream before disintegrating into blue polygons that faded into nothing.

Leafa chuckled and brushed the hair out of her face.

"Easy, peasy,"

Yui turned on her tape recorder a third time,

"Observation #3: The user seems to gain knowledge of their attacks and abilities instantly upon transformation,"

Leafa walked up to the pixie.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Yui put away the tape recorder.

"I'm documenting this experiment as I go. We're gonna need all the knowledge we can get."

"Experiment?"

"This is literally the first time anyone has ever done something like this. I hardly know anything about what I'm doing!"

"I see," Leafa thought for a moment, "Why do I feel so confident and bold all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go home and..."

"Ah! Oni-chan! I need to make sure he's okay!" screamed Leafa before flying back to her house, with Yui holding on to her hair.

_Meanwhile_

"ILLFANG IS DEAD?" exclaimed Kayaba, he slammed his fist onto the arm of his throne.

"Uh, yes my Lord," said Kuradeel, shaking in fear. "It seems that our little pixie friend has been more trouble than we anticipated,"

Kayaba sighed.

"We need to do something about this user,"

Kuradeel thought for a moment.

"What if we sent a bunch of disposable monsters at her one at a time and hope that the next one will be able to kill her?"

"That's ridiculous, we could be doing that for who-knows-how-long." Then Kayaba grinned. "Although, you may be on to something..."


	2. Lisbeth

**I don't think I've ever seen more reviews on a single chapter. Seriously, these things are like Chaos Emeralds to me.**

** Guest: Well, I'm sure you won't be ****disappointed!**

**Saintinfernalneos: So glad you decided to read! Anyway, the reason for my adjustments is that I wanted to fix the plotholes as opposed to pointing them out. I took your advice and tagged the main characters. Also, Midori is kind of a running gag on my page. Plus, it's a comedy story so you don't need to get **_**too **_**invested.**

** Comrade Broseph and LeapLoverForever: Thank you very much!**

** Fazrulz: I'll take that into account. I'll make sure that the battles are much more intense.**

Suguha stretched her arms as the sunlight entered her room.

"Man..." she said to herself, "That was one heck of a dream..."

"Good morning Kirgaya-san!" Yui chirped, sitting on Suguha's bedside table.

Suguha yelped and fell out of her bed

"Yui?" she gasped.

"Yep! I hope you don't mind that I slept in your bag!"

Suguha rubbed her eyes.

"So it really did happen..."

"Of course it did!" Yui giggled. "Anyway, since we're no longer in mortal danger, I have time to answer the rest of your questions!"

"Oh, good," Suguha sighed. She put on some comfortable clothing.

"I just don't understand your obsession with clothes," Yui remarked. "You're always covering up your body, even when you don't really need to!"

"Aren't you wearing a dress?" Suguha pointed out.

"Oh no, this is part of my body," Yui said, as she gave a little twirl.

"Actually, that brings me to my first question. I know that Kayaba made a bunch of virtual monsters, but where did you come from?"

Yui sighed.

"I'm... one of Kayaba's older experiments..." she confessed. "But I realized how amazing the real world is, so I escaped through one of his portals so I could find a user to defeat him"

"Oh yeah, what exactly is a user?"

Yui thought for a moment.

"Think of it like this: all the virtual creatures, including myself, are like programs. The only way to affect them is with inputs. When I enchant a weapon, it turns into an input device that can affect programs, like a mouse or a keyboard. The person using that weapon is called a user, and they're recognized by the System as such,"

"The System?"

Yui hesitated.

"Think, gods,"

"So it's like that?"

"No, it's nothing like that, but it's best to just go with that. You are a user, so you can battle against virtual creatures and gain powers from the System. Kayaba is also a user, so his virtual creatures will obey his commands,"

"I see. So I'm the only one capable of killing a virtual monster?"

"At the moment, yes,"

Suguha looked at her sword. It had returned to its shinai form.

"This is a lot to take in..." she pondered. "Why was I chosen?"

"Huh?"

"You could've chosen anyone, but why me?"

Yui blinked. Then she giggled.

"Because of your pure heart, silly!"

"My heart?"

"Yes. One of my few powers is the ability to examine the contents of a person's heart. I needed to find someone who wouldn't turn evil or anything, and I couldn't see any malice in your heart, so I chose you,"

"You're a telepath?"

"Empath, but yes. I also know that you really love your brother. Like, REALLY,"

Suguha blushed lightly. "Exactly how much do you know about that?"

Yui smirked.

"Enough to know that you'll fight for his safety," Then she remembered something, "Also, once you log in, you can't ever stop being a user,"

Suguha took a moment to process all of this. _I'm stuck fighting evil monsters for the rest of my life? Just great._

She sighed and flopped onto her bed.

"Still... I'll do anything if it means that oni-chan will be safe..."

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Yui. "Now let's go find more users!"

"More?"

Yui gave her a puzzled look.

"You know, we're gonna need all the help we can get if we want a chance at beating Kayaba. It takes a village, not a magical girl,"

"I suppose that makes sense," Suguha sat up in her bed. "But where are we gonna find more people with pure hearts?"

"I know!"

Yui flew straight into Suguha's breast pocket.

"I'll just stay in here and examine the hearts of everyone you come into contact with!"

Suguha sighed again.

"That's both ridiculous, and yet foolproof. Just make sure that no one notices you,"

"Don't worry, I'm really good at being inconspicuous!"

"Sugu?" Kazuto's voice was heard from outside the door. "Are you talking to someone?"

Suguha gasped and quickly shoved Yui down into her pocket.

"N-nothing oni-chan!" she quickly said. "I was just... uh... watching a video!"

"Oh, okay," Kazuto opened the door. Yui could feel Suguha's heart flutter. "Anyway, breakfast is ready,"

"Oh! Sure!"

_After breakfast._

Suguha strolled down the street, ready to begin her task of finding the next user.

"It's probably going to take a while," she said to Yui. "Good thing I packed a lunch, cause it'll probably be hours before..."

Suddenly, she felt something warm press against her rear.

"AH!" she yelped. She looked down and saw a girl, around 17, with short, curly brown hair, pale skin, freckles, and almond eyes. What's more, this girl was currently grasping her butt with an excited look on her face.

"GET AWAY YOU PERVERT!" exclaimed Suguha as she kicked the girl away, her chest bouncing as she swung her leg around.

"Ow..." the brown-haired girl rubbed herself and chuckled. "At least I got to see that jiggle!"

"Wha..." Suguha stuttered. Then she realized that the stranger was looking straight at the middle of her upper torso. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Hey, I'm just another girl who likes to get it on!" she said cheerfully. "Rika Shinozaki's the name!"

"Ugh..." Suguha backed off, not taking her eyes off of Rika.

"Hey, you don't need to be afraid of little old me!"

"You just groped my butt,"

"Honestly, with a body like that, I'm surprised you're still single,"

"How did you know that?"

Rika grinned.

"I got a real good whiff, Annette"

"You're disgusting," said Suguha. "And my name is Suguha Kirigaya,"

"I see,"

Suguha gave her one last glare before dashing off in the other direction.

_A little bit later, in the park._

"That was the most disturbing thing that's ever happened to me," said Suguha. Yui nodded in agreement.

"And her heart was the lewdest I've ever seen! Although, she was pure..."

"Wait, how can she be pure? She's a huge pervert!"

"True, but she's still not capable of doing anything evil. Even though I hope I never see her again, she's a decent candidate to be a user..."

"Let's hope that never happens,"

"Agreed,"

Just as she said this, a huge gust of air suddenly swept underneath her, pushing her skirt upwards and exposing her undergarments for the world to see. She tried to push it back down, but she was too busy screaming from the surprise.

As a result, many boys walking by got nosebleeds.

When the wind stopped. Suguha set her dress straight again and turned around to see Rika once again, this time holding a long air hose.

"Hey Kirigaya-san!" said Rika, "How do you like my custom vacuum? It sucks _and _blows!"

"R-Rika!" stuttered Suguha, blushing furiously. She grabbed the hose and tossed it away, along with the small cylindrical device attached to the other end.

"Hey! It took me a lot of time to build that!"

Suguha stopped for a moment.

"You built that thing?"

"Yeah, I build things all the time. What, do you really think they sell something like that vacuum?"

"That's... incredibly pervy, yet actually kind of cool,"

"I thought so too. Anyway, I think we got off of the wrong..."

All of sudden, a huge roar was heard.

"What the..." Suguha started to say.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Rika. She pointed up in the sky with a terrified look on her face.

"What in the..."

Above the park, there was an enormous white dragon. It was eight meters tall, twenty meters long, and utterly gigantic. It was white-winged with huge jaws and ruby-red eyes. Its body was covered in scale-like crystal shards of ice.

"THE HECK?!" exclaimed Rika, along with most of the other bystanders around Suguha.

"Yui, what's that?" Suguha whispered into her pocket.

"That's X'rphan the White Dragon! Kayaba must have sent another monster!" said Yui.

X'rphan roared again, everyone in the park screamed and started running away, along with Rika. Suguha was left on her own with the beast before her.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Yui, "Get your sword out and transform!"

"Oh, right!" exclaimed Suguha. She pulled her shinai out of its sheath and yelled "Link Start!"

Uh, do I have to describe the whole transformation again?

No?

Okay.

After changing into her fairy version, Leafa twirled and said "The winds of the earth are at my fingertips! Leafa, the Sorceress of Swords!"

X'rphan roared again.

"At least this guy doesn't sing," she remarked. "Anyway, Sylph Slash!"

She drew a green glowing X with her sword and launched it at the flying beast, but he simply swooped out of the way.

"What the..."

"You have to aim!" Yui pointed out.

Leafa cleared her throat.

"Okay, let's try something else,"

She took off and flew up to X'rphan, who was circling the area around the magical girl. It had begun to rain, and the sky was grey with clouds.

"Did the weather suddenly just shift in tone with the battle?" Leafa wondered, momentarily distracted.

"Watch out! He's using his Breath Attack!" exclaimed Yui.

"Huh?

X'rphan blasted Leafa with a beam of white light from his mouth. The fairy was knocked out of the sky like a fly who got too close to a bug zapper. She screamed and plummeted straight onto the hard ground.

"Ow..." Leafa tried to get up, but she couldn't move a single muscle. "What's going on?"

"He paralyzed you!" panicked Yui, "You won't be able to move for a while!"

"Uh oh," Leafa realized that X'rphan was slowly approaching her like a hungry lion.

"How was I beaten so easily?" she wondered.

"I think Illfang was actually a really weak monster," said Yui.

"You're not helping!"

"Just wait for the paralysis to wear off?"

"I don't think we have time..." Leafa indicated to the gigantic dragon who was right above her and lowering its head closer to her body, it's gaping maw wide open.

Yui thought quickly.

"Try thinking about your..." she started to say, but she was interrupted when the dragon suddenly pulled its head back.

"What the..."

X'rphan cried out in pain. Upon closer inspection, Leafa could see a hook-like device digging into the back of the dragon's scaly neck. It was connected to a chain that led to someone who was pulling the dragon's head back.

"Rika?"

Rika yanked the chain again, causing X'rphan to yelp out.

"You... get away... from... her!" Rika managed to say while pouring her strength into holding on to the chain. "She... didn't... do anything... to you!"

However, Rika was no match for X'rphan's mighty strength. He flipped his powerful wings, pulling himself off the ground, along with a screaming Rika, who was holding on the chain for dear life.

"Uh-oh!" she yelped. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Yui concentrated on Rika's heart.

"Oh my gosh," she said, "That's one heck of a sense of justice! She just took on a dragon to protect someone she just met!"

"I DON'T THINK I CAN HANG ON FOR MUCH LONGER!"

Yui thought for a moment, debating her options.

"Ugh," she said, "I am going to regret this for the rest of my life,"

"Regret what?" asked a still-paralyzed Leafa.

The look in Yui's eyes told her everything.

"Oh no,"

"Oh yes!"

Yui took a deep breath and flew after X'rphan.

Rika was starting to lose her grip on the chain, the one thing that separated her from death. She shut her eyes, grasped her lifeline tightly, as the mighty dragon tried to shake her off.

"Hey! You there!" said Yui.

Rika gasped and almost let go when she saw the tiny girl flying in front of her.

"What the... first dragons and now fairies?!" she exclaimed.

"First of all, I'm a pixie. Second of all, I'm also your only chance at survival!"

Yui fluttered up to Rika's hook and touched it.

"Link Start!"

"Huh?"

The piece of chain that Rika was holding on to started to glow pink. It shifted and changed, wrapping itself around Rika's hand, and turned into a mechanical gauntlet.

"Okay, this is cool, but how do I get down?" asked Rika, glad that she no longer had to grip her lifeline, as the chain attached to her new metal glove.

Yui sighed and said. "Just say, "Username: Lisbeth" and let's get this over with,"

"Uh, okay," said Rika, "Username: Lisbeth!"

On command, a small pink gem in her newly formed gauntlet started to glow. The background faded into a shining pink.

As trumpet music filled the air, snake-like mechanical vines from her gauntlet wrapped around Lisbeth's body. In a blast of laser light, they transformed her clothes into a different outfit. A dark red top with puffed sleeves and a flared skirt of the same color, combined with a pure white apron on top of it, as well as a red ribbon atop her chest.

Robot arms sprouted from various points on her body, mostly her back. Her gauntlet glowed bright, and her hair turned a light pink. Two Da-Vinci style wings assembled on her back.

Like Leafa, Lisbeth's body acted it's own. She did a fist pump with her new metal glove, and her robot arms spread out. She yelled to no one in particular "If you break it down, I'll build it up better! Lisbeth, the Harmonious Blacksmith!"

The newborn cyborg blinked before regaining her senses.

"THE HECK?" she exclaimed.

"I'll explain later, just kill the dragon already!" said Yui.

"Uh... woah, are these robot arms?" Lisbeth found that she could manipulate her new appendages just as easily as if they were part of her body. She shifted them around to experiment.

"This is so cool!" said Lisbeth. She pulled her chain back into her glove with just a brainwave, and she used her new wings to fly around the confused dragon.

"Stop fooling around!" said Yui.

"Sorry," Lisbeth shrugged, "But seriously, now that I'm not in mortal danger, I can actually get a good look at that dragon's gigantic..."

"JUST KILL THE DARN DRAGON! AND DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"

"Fine..." Lisbeth pouted. "Leprechaun Laser!"

She felt her gauntlet glow bright with energy. In an instant, she fired a beam of pink light at the dragon, causing it to yell out in pain.

"Oh yeah, let's dance!" said Lisbeth.

She and X'rphan flew around each other for a while. Then Lisbeth suddenly charged straight at the dragon. X'rphan reacted by flying upwards, but Lisbeth anticipated this. She launched her chain-hook at his tail, causing him to cry out in pain. Using her momentum, she swung up and onto the dragon's back.

"Observation #4," said Yui into her tape recorder. "It seems that the powers of the user are directly linked to their interests and hobbies. Suguha is a swordfighter, and Leafa is incredibly dexterous with her weapon. Or in this example, Rika likes to invent things, so Lisbeth has a good amount of magical tech at her disposal,"

"Activate: wing manipulation!" said Lisbeth. She stretched out her body on X'rphan's back, her stomach facing down. Her mechanical arms stretched over his huge scaly wings and latched onto the ends. Lisbeth had created a mechanical muscular system for the dragon, whose wings were now puppets to her strings. X'rphan tried to fight back, but Lisbeth's robot arms overpowered him easily. She forced him to tuck his wings in, and as a result, the two started plummeting to the ground.

Just before the crash, Lisbeth jumped off and fired with her gauntlet, launching herself 17 feet in the air and hitting the dragon with the force of a tiny solar flare. X'rphan roared one final time before the force from both the blast and the crash crushed him into blue polygons that faded away.

Lisbeth gracefully landed and sighed.

"Whew..." she said, "That was nuts,"

Meanwhile, Leafa had just recovered from her paralysis and was walking over to greet the new member of the cast.

"Woah, Suguha?" said Lisbeth, "Since when were you a blondie?"

"That just happens when I transform..." Leafa admitted.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" she exclaimed. "First the dragon, then the pixie, then I turned into a cyborg by magic, then I killed the dragon using abilities I never learned anything about, but I can now rattle them off the top off my head, and now you're a hot blondie!"

"Well, you see... wait, what?"

"I mean, I could swear you went up a cup size or two. And I can see all that skin! Even your hips are enhanced!"

"Huh?" Leafa examined her body. She didn't notice it before, but it did seem quite apparent that certain "features" of her were quite exaggerated in this form.

"Say, you wouldn't mind if I were too..." Lisbeth said as she reached over to her chest.

"NO!" Leafa smacked her hand away.

Yui, who had spent the majority of the fight flying as fast as her little wings could carry her, floated over to the two girls, exhausted.

"You guys... really need to... slow down..." Yui said, before passing out on the ground.

_On the way home..._

"So, what you're saying, is that I've been turned into a superhero who has to fight virtual monsters sent by an evil video game maker?" said Rika.

"Yeah, basically," said Yui, "Anyway, welcome to the team, Rika!"

"Thank you. Hey, maybe we should have a name for our team!"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Suguha.

"How about "Two hotties and a little girl?"

Suguha cringed.

"Are you always this lewd?"

"You know it!"

"Okay, what about "The Heroes of the Virtual World," suggested Suguha

"No, that doesn't make any sense," said Yui. "I know! "The Heroes of the Fairy Dance!"

"The what now?"

Yui cleared her throat.

"Kayaba originally made me for a game called _Fairy Dance._ If we name ourselves that, it'll show how his own creations are rebelling against him!"

"I... guess that makes sense?" said Suguha.

"Well, it's the best I can think of," said Rika. "And we can call each other "Fairy dancers" for short!"

"Perfect!" said Yui, "Then from here on out, we are the HOFD! The Heroes of the Fairy Dance!"

Silence.

"Uh, guys? You're supposed to cheer," Yui pointed out.

"Nah, I gotta go home," said Rika, walking off in a different direction.

"Me too," said Suguha.

_Meanwhile._

"Say, Death Gun?" asked the cloaked figure standing in front of the giant cage.

"Yes?" replied the man in the skull mask with red eyes.

"Do you know what happened to the dragon? It was right here yesterday"

"I think Kayaba sent it to the real world. Something about a plan that involved Sinon."

**Pls, review!**

** Also, I should probably clear something up. I decided that the monsters should be virtual so it would make more sense that only certain people can fight them.**


	3. A not so good plan

"GOOD MORNING!"

Suguha and Yui yelped in surprise, jumping up from their respective sleeping areas.

"What was that?" said Suguha, rubbing her eyes while recovering from the shock.

"It was me!"

Outside Suguha's window, Rika was waving to her while holding a red megaphone.

"If we're gonna be superheroes together, then we should definitely be BFFs too!" said Rika.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with waking me up with a megaphone?" said Suguha, "In fact, how do you even know where I live?"

"Remember when I touched your butt?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I installed a tracking device in your underwear,"

"You did what, now?" said Suguha.

"I know. I am a genius," Rika grinned. She pushed the window up and crawled inside the room. "Nice place you got here,"

"How did you open the window?" asked Yui.

Rika held up a hairpin from her pocket.

"I picked the lock ahead of time,"

"Sugu?" Kazuto's voice came from the door, "I heard something about someone picking the lock on your window. Is everything okay?"

"N-nothing Oni-chan!" Suguha blushed slightly, and Rika gave her a strange look.

"Hang on, I'm coming in," said Kazuto

He pushed open the door.

"What the..."

He saw Suguha in her sleepwear, along with another girl who was standing by the window and holding up a hairpin.

"Uh, who's this?" he asked.

Rika's eyes widened. Then her face started to turn red.

"Hang on a moment..." she said to herself. Kazuto's eyes' widened as she walked up to his face.

"Have we met before?" she asked. "Cause I could swear I remember a face that handsome," she smirked after saying that last part.

"You do sound familiar..." said Kazuto, not quite grasping what she just said.

"Uh, what's going on here?" said Suguha, becoming considerably distasteful of the situation.

"Do you play _Sword Art Online_?" asked Rika.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Are you a dual wielder?"

"Yes,"

"And do you know a blacksmith by the name of Lisbeth?"

"Uh, what?" said Suguha.

"Uh, yeah I do. We fought X'rphan together to get a special metal," said Kazuto.

"What exactly are we talking about right now?" asked Suguha.

"Kirito?" said Rika.

"Lisbeth?" said Kazuto.

"I think they know each other in the game," Yui whispered into the Suguha's ear.

"WHAT?!"

_Sometime later..._

Suguha glared at Rika as Kazuto discussed the events of his favorite VRMMORPG, _Sword Art Online,_ as they ate breakfast. In the game, Kazuto is a dual-wielding, solo player named Kirito, otherwise known in the Black Swordsman. Rika plays the role of a blacksmith named Lisbeth. At some point, Kirito broke a valuable sword that Lisbeth made, so they went to get a special metal so he could repay her, and she would also make him a better sword as change. They fought X'rphan, got stuck in a cave for a while, before escaping and making it back to her shop.

As Suguha listened, it wasn't long before she started to notice some things. Firstly, someone was flirting with her brother, and she had to deal with that. Secondly, all the monsters that Kayaba had sent so far were also monsters in the game _Sword Art Online _(Otherwise known as SAO)_. _Thirdly, Yui somehow knew what Rika's username was, and Rika's user form was shockingly similar to her avatar.

"And then, I saw the most beautiful sunset ever!" said Rika, "Of course, we were falling to our deaths but I didn't care! It was the best thing I've ever done in my life!"

"Oh by the way," said Kazuto, "What were you saying?"

"Huh?"

"While we were falling out of the sky, you told me not to freak out, and then you said something that I couldn't hear. What was that?"

"Uh..." Rika hesitated, a blush creeping on to her face.

"Yeah, Rika. I would _really _like to know that," said Suguha, with a fake smile that was obviously hiding her anger. Well, obvious to everyone except Kazuto.

"Umm," Rika looked for an escape route, "Oh would you look at the time! Suguha and I better get to school!"

Without saying another word, Rika grabbed her and Suguha's bag, along with her hand, and dashed out the door.

Kazuto blinked and then sighed.

"I just don't understand women," he said wistfully, "I guess I'll just play SAO for the time being,"

_On the way to school. _

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?" said Suguha, glaring at her friend of 29 hours.

"What?"

"Flirting with Oni-chan!"

Rika shrugged.

"Well can you blame me? He's one heck of a guy. I mean, good looks, good physique, funny, charismatic, and he'll do anything to help someone!"

"I know, but I loved him way before you. As his sister, we've known each other forever!"

"You? You're related!"

"Yes, why?"

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Maybe in law, but my feelings for him are real," Suguha sighed dreamily while visualizing her brother and her in an intense makeout session in front of a glittery background.

"It's true," said Yui, cringing at the image. "But we should be focusing on something much more important,"

"What could that be?" said Suguha.

"The thing about SAO?"

"Oh yeah," said Rika, "How exactly did you know what my username was?"

"Don't you know who created Sword Art Online?"

"Uh, no,"

Yui looked at her strangely.

"It's Kayaba,"

"Wait, really?

"Yes. He used similar code to _Fairy Dance, _so it's easy for me to hack into the player files,"

"So you decided to use Rika's username in the game?" said Suguha, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly. Mostly cause I couldn't think of one on the spot,"

"Speaking of which," said Rika, "I noticed that the X'rphan had the same attack patterns and abilities as in the game when we fought him in real life,"

"So Kayaba is using monsters from the game to attack the real world?" said Suguha.

"Talk about lazy," Yui added.

"Says the girl who couldn't think of an original name on the spot," said Rika.

"Touche,"

"More importantly," Rika said, her eyes lighting up, "It means we have a major advantage over him,"

"Huh?" said Yui.

"Oh I see," said Suguha, "By that logic, we can gain knowledge of the monsters before we fight them by learning about them in the game,"

"Oh," Yui realized, "I wish I'd thought of that..." her wings drooped slightly.

"Actually, I was wondering," said Suguha, "How many more users do we have to find?"

Yui thought for a moment.

"I think three. That's what I've determined from my research,"

Suguha sighed.

"Well, I guess it's gonna be a pretty long time before we get there. After all, finding a pure heart in this world is like trying to find a needle in a haystack,"

Rika giggled to herself.

"This is so cool! It's almost like an anime!"

_School, almost at the end of the lunch break._

Suguha and Rika started on their way back to class. Yui had scanned all the hearts around them but had been unable to locate a pure one.

At that moment, they noticed a nearby girl was opening her locked when all of her books and possession started tumbling out on top of her. The result: a very embarrassing scene.

It was at this point when a boy, an upperclassman, noticed this and walked over.

"Need any help with that?" he said, with a semi-suggestive grin. "And maybe we could get some coffee later..."

The girl frowned and gave the boy an uppercut. The upperclassman yelped and backed off.

"Alright already!" he said, sulking in another direction.

Meanwhile, Yui peeked her head out of Suguha's pocket.

"He'll do nicely," she said.

"Really?" said Suguha.

"Yep! He's definitely the right kind of person for the job,"

Just then, the bell rang. The two girls immediately dashed off to class.

"I think we found our next user," said Suguha with a confident grin.

"And what's better, I got that girls panties from her locker!" said Rika, grinning while holding up a pair of underwear.

_After classes_

"Alright, let's go recruit him!" said Suguha,

"How are we gonna do that?" said Rika.

Suguha smirked.

"I thought of a plan during class. Step one, we introduce ourselves to him. Step two, we follow him around and wait for a monster to show up. Step three, we fight the monster. Step four, Yui does the whole "Link Start" thing to him in the heat of battle, so he'll be more likely to accept. Step five, we defeat the monster together. Step six, we have a new member!"

"That's... actually pretty smart," said Rika. "Usually in anime, they just do whatever and hope it works out!"

"That's because most protagonists lack one thing,"

"What?"

"100 IQ points!"

The two friends laughed together.

"Okay, let's start with step one!"

_A few minutes later_

"Hey!" said Rika. Klein looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"GET OVER HERE!" Rika threw her hook at him. It caught his shirt, attaching him to the chain.

"What the..." Klein started to say.

Rika pulled the chain, and Klein, towards her before he could react, his feet flew across the floor, somehow unaffected by friction.

"Oh, that's what it's for," said Suguha.

"Can I... help you?" Klein said, glancing between the two girls.

Rika unattached the hook from Klein.

"I feel like we haven't properly met," she said, smiling at him. "I'm Rika Shinozaki, and this is Suguha Kirigaya,"

"I'm Tsuboi Ryoutarou, but everyone calls me Klein," he said, shaking Suguha's hand. Then he turned to Rika. "I'm guessing you wanted to demonstrate the proper use of that hook thing of yours,"

"How did you know that?" she asked.

"Just a hunch," said Klein. "Anyway, I have some stuff to do... see you tomorrow?"

"Sure!" said Rika and Suguha at the same time.

Once Klein was out of earshot, Suguha turned to Rika.

"Step one, complete,"

_Some more minutes later_

As Klein walked home, Rika and Suguha walked just a few paces behind him, ducking into a hiding spot every time he turned around.

_Meanwhile, on the 100th floor of Aincrad..._

"So how is our agent doing?" asked Kayaba when Kuradeel kneeled before him.

"She's carrying out the mission as planned, your highness,"

"Excellent," Kayaba rubbed his hands together.

"If you don't mind me asking, my Lord, why have we only sent weak monsters? We could easily destroy them now if we unleashed _her_ on them,"

"Patience Kuradeel, we must not be hasty. As long as Yui is alive, she can whip up another gang of users in a matter of days. She is the only thing we need to concern ourselves with. I have a mission for you. You will gather the forces of Laughing Coffin, and attempt to kidnap Yui. If possible, destroy the users as well. But as soon as any of your lives are truly endangered, I want you to retreat at once. Understand?"

"Yes, my Lord. I will not fail you,"

_At the cemetery._

For some odd reason, Klein walked into an old cemetery. Suguha and Rika followed regardless. A kilometer or so in, his eyes widened.

"GAH! I took the wrong way!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Suguha and Rika mentally facepalmed.

"Hello, children,"

Klein yelped. A tall man with wrinkled skin and black hair walked out from behind a grave. What was most disturbing, was that this man had a large decorated sword, held in a battle stance.

**I realized that this chapter was much longer then I intended, so I'm splitting it into two parts.**


	4. Klein

"Wh-who are you?" Klein stammered.

Just then, Suguha and Rika hopped out from their hiding place and ran up to the man.

"What the... you two?" said Klein.

"Hey! Nice to see you," said Rika.

"Now, we don't want any trouble," said the man, as he slowly closed in on the three teenagers. "Just give us the fairy, and we can all go home safely,"

Hearing the word "Fairy", Yui jumped out of Suguha's pocket.

"I'm a pixie!"

Klein's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"What the…?"

"Yeah, it's a little jarring at first," Suguha remarked. She turned to the newcomer. "Who are you, and what do you want with Yui?"

"I'm Kuradeel. And that fairy is coming with me, no questions asked!"

"Pixie," Yui corrected.

"Oh yeah?" said Rika, grinning at him. "Well, there's four of us, and one of you!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Me, Suguha, Yui, and… wait, where's Klein?"

The three realized that Klein was no longer next to them. He had run away like any sensible teenager in this situation. Suguha didn't notice, but Yui dashed off after him.

"So much for that plan," said Suguha, starting to sweat.

"Okay, there's three of us!" said Rika, ever confident.

"And one of them's a tiny fairy, " Kuradeel pointed out.

"Pixie!" said Yui.

"F-fine, t-two if you want!" said Suguha, her voice trembling. "But we're still gonna win, Kuradeel!"

"I think you need to recount, little girl"

"Why?" said Rika.

Kuradeel looked like he was expecting something to happen. He looked around.

"Uh," he cleared his throat. "I said, you need to recount, little girl!"

Someone spoke from behind a nearby pillar.

"Oh wait, was that the signal? Sorry, just do it again,"

Rika frowned.

"Kinda losing the spook factor here!"

"Oh forget it," said Kuradeel. "Just get out here!"

Four people emerged from various hiding places. One was a woman with a bow, the others were men, one with two scimitars, one with two blue cuboid crystals, and the last one had a scythe.

"Who are these guys?" said Suguha, looking at Yui.

"They're Laughing Coffin, one of Kayaba's mercenary units. Kuradeel's the leader, Lux is the girl, Death Gun has the scythe, Spiegel's the dual wielder, and the last one is Johnny Black"

"Mercenaries?"

"Well, dragons aren't cheap, so Kayaba has to compromise," said Yui, shrugging.

"Hey!" said Kuradeel.

The other four took their battle stances. Kuradeel realized he was distracted and quickly took one too.

"Okay, five on two," said Suguha, trying to keep from shaking. "This shouldn't be too hard!"

"Enough talk!" said Death Gun, the eyes of his skull mask glowing red. "It's showtime!"

"I couldn't agree more!" said Rika. She took out her hook. "I've always wanted to take on four men and one woman all at the same time!"

"What?" said Lux, tilting her head.

"Link start!"

You've seen the transformation sequence before, I don't need to redo it.

"Alright," said Leafa, huddling with Lisbeth. "Let's think of a plan before..."

"Shadow Ball!" A sphere of purple energy formed in Kuradeel's hand. He then flung it at the girls.

Leafa hopped out of the way, but Lisbeth wasn't so lucky.

"OUCH!" she yelped.

"You'll pay for that!" said Leafa. She dashed towards Kuradeel, holding her sword out. She slashed, but he reacted quickly and parried the blow.

"Oh, you like to play that way?" he said. He grinned as he raised his sword.

As Kuradeel and Leafa battled, the rest of Laughing Coffin turned on Lisbeth.

"Oh, you want a piece of this?" she asked, tilting her head. She giggled. "Well, don't lick it if you can't swallow!" she fired a laser at Lux, but Speidel blocked it. The pink projectile bounced harmlessly off of one of his scimitars

"It'll take more than that!" he said. Lux pulled back an arrow.

"Raven Claw!" she fired a bolt of dark energy at Lisbeth, who narrowly sidestepped it.

"Go! Skeleton Swordsmen!" shouted Johnny Black, throwing his crystals on the ground, Pokemon style. They shattered and shot out two large skeletons with swords and leather armor.

"Uh oh," said Lisbeth, taking off. "Uh, Leafa? I could use some help right now!"

"I'm kinda occupied at the moment!" said Leafa, parrying another attack from Kuradeel.

"Just give up, pathetic hero! What hope could you possibly have against..."

"I don't wanna hear it!"

"Huh?"

"What, you think I didn't watch anime like this when I was younger?" Leafa twirled around him. "I've heard every villain speech in the book. The "You don't stand a chance," the "You're ugly," and even the "Compassion is wrong," You just can't break me, because I will never lose, because I have something you don't!"

"Oh, and what might that be?" said Kuradeel edging her on.

"Flight," said Leafa. She giggled and took off, her green wings sparkling.

"You think that makes a difference? Stone Tomb!" Kuradeel drew a purple cross symbol in the air with his sword. The ground underneath him shook and grew upwards so that he was face to face with Leafa.

"Nice trick," she said, starting to spin her sword. "My turn! Winds of Fury!"

Kuradeel yelped as the strong gales flew at him like a huge mass of flying ribbons. He dug his sword into the stone tower until it died down.

_Meanwhile_

Yui huffed and puffed as she flew as fast as she could to catch up to Klein.

"Klein!" she yelled. "Wait up!"

"Now the fairy is following me?" he said, glancing over his shoulder as he continued running away from the battle. "What is this, Legend of Zelda?"

"First of all, I'm a pixie! Second of all, we need you to help us!"

"Are you crazy? I can't fight the Yakuza!"

"Yakuza? They're not a band," said Yui waving it off. "They're just bad guys with video game powers from SAO! Say, do you play SAO?"

"Of course! Everyone plays SAO! But seriously, this day could not get any weirder! I'm running for my life!"

"Well, could you slow down? It's very hard to talk to you like this!" said Yui, her wings starting to ache.

Hearing her pleas, Klein bit his lip and slowed to a jogging pace.

"Better?" he asked, still not looking behind him.

"Much better!" replied Yui. "But if you don't help them, they're gonna get… actually, why am I even trying to negotiate?"

Yui fluttered over to Klein's matchbox.

"Uh, what are you..."

"Link start!"

Nothing happened at first. Then an orange light emanated from within the metal box.

"What the...?" said Klein utterly befuddled.

"Huh, that's new," said Yui.

Klein's curiosity overpowered his fear, and he opened the box. One of the matches inside was glowing bright orange. He slowly took it out.

"What did you just do?"

Yui thought for a moment.

"I think you have to light it,"

Klein looked at her, then the match. Without thinking he quickly struck the end against the rough side of the matchbox. The wooden stick burned fiercely, the flame growing much stronger than it should have for a match.

"AH!" Klein yelped in surprise and dropped the matchstick. The flame kept growing taller, and hotter, and thinner. The wooden part of the match also grew and turned into a decorative handle. And the raging fire shaped into the end of a sword. Soon, a katana was lying in front of Klein.

"Woah..." said Klein. He cautiously picked it up. As soon as he touched it, the blade burst into flames.

"It's cool, isn't it?" said Yui. She took out her tape recorder. "Observation #5: The method used to turn an enchanted weapon from it's normal form to its weapon form varies from item to item. For Leafa's sword and Lisbeth's hook, the transformation occurs instantly. But Klein's match must be lit as the phrase is spoken,"

"This means..." said Klein, dumbfounded. "I can save Rika and Suguha!"

"You mean, Lisbeth and Leafa?"

But Klein was already running back to the others, sword literally blazing.

"Hey wait!" said Yui, "You have to say "Username: Klein" first!" But he was already too far away, "Darn it," she looked into his game files. "His nickname is his screen name?"

_Back to the others,_

Lisbeth tried to grab one of the skeletons in her robot arm, but Lux's arrows kept her from doing so. And Spiegel rendered her lasers ineffective.

"This is so frustrating!"

Meanwhile, Leafa and Kuradeel were having trouble escaping each other's attacks. If one went for a sword slash, the other would parry. If one used magic, the other would counter. It was at this point when Klein showed up, again.

"Hey, guys! I can help you!" he said, flailing his new weapon around like a party balloon.

"Cool! A flaming katana!" said Lisbeth smacking away a skeleton.

Death Gun looked at the new arrival.

"Are you the real deal?" he said.

"What?"

"Rhetorical question!" he dashed at Klein and swung his scythe. Klein yelped and tried to block, but only flimsily dropped his sword.

"Uh oh," he said. He ducked, as Death Gun's scythe narrowly chopped off a hair from his head.

Lisbeth gasped. She paused just for a moment, but it was long enough for Lux to shoot an arrow straight to her chest.

"OW!" she screamed, losing her balance and plummeting to the ground.

"Lisbeth!" said Leafa. Kuradeel also took advantage of her pause and cast a spell.

"Tyrant Dragon!" the markings on Kuradeel's sword glowed purple, and a giant magical dragon-shaped projectile launched straight at Leafa.

"OW!" she screamed, as she fell to the ground alongside Lisbeth.

"Hah! How pathetic!" said Kuradeel. "Now to get that fairy!"

"PIXIE!" exclaimed Yui, who was panting from flying after Klein. She looked at him, as Death Gun backed him up into the side of a shrine building. "Klein! Grab your sword and say "Username: Klein"!"

"How is that gonna help?" he asked.

"Just do it if you want to live!"

"Okay!" Klein fumbled about until his hands finally wrapped around the handle of his katana. "Username: Klein!"

Instantly, a firey blast knocked away Death Gun, as everything disappeared into a firey background and a chorus of unintelligible chants rang through the air like a tribal ritual.

Firey bursts shot out of Klein's sword and surrounded him. His clothes burned in magical fire, as they were replaced by red robes and black samurai armor. Two clear red wings appeared on his back.

Klein cackled and swung his sword with perfect finesse. He called out.

"My flames will light up the darkest night! Klein, the Salamander Samurai!"

The light show died down, and Klein was back in his head. He blinked for a second.

"THE HECK?" he said.

"Huh," said Lisbeth, who was already recovering from the arrow wound. "That was a lot less feminine than I thought,"

"Another one?" said Kuradeel. "Bah! We'll beat him all the same!"

"Honestly, I'm just as surprised as you," said Klein looking over his outfit.

"Hey, why does he get armor?" said Lisbeth. "This is sexual stereotyping!"

Death Gun got up again and charged with his scythe. But this time, Klein parried the attack in a half-second.

"Uh, since when can I do that?" he said.

"Just go with the program!" said Yui.

"Okay," Klein batted away Death Gun's weapon. He flicked his katana, shooting off a large column of fire in Kuradeel's direction, who had no time to respond as the flames singed his body.

"OUCH!" he screamed. Klein smirked and tilted his sword. The fire he shot imitated the movement like a bob on the end of a fishing rod.

"Uh oh," said Death Gun. The four members of Laughing Coffin tried to dodge, but the fire swung back around and burned them all.

"Wow!" said Leafa. "He has pyrokinesis!"

"I do?" said Klein.

"Hang on, I have an idea!," Leafa hovered 15 feet in the air, close to Klein. "Put as much fire as possible underneath me!"

"But what if it kills you?"

"It won't! I told you, I watch a lot of anime! I know what I'm doing!"

"Okay!" Klein said nervously. He pointed his katana in the area below Leafa. Fire shot out and stopped directly below her, creating a growing ball of firey mass.

Leafa winced as she felt the intense heat growing beneath her, moisture starting to form on her brow. She shook it off and waited until she got what she wanted. Finally, strong winds started to fly at her from the flames.

"What the..." said Kuradeel, unable to process what was going on.

"I paid attention in Fairy Tail!" said Leafa, spinning her sword around in the wind. "The hot air rises and cold air runs in to take its place! The result: an updraft!"

"Okay, but how does this help you?" asked Klein, his grip on his katana growing weaker.

"Like this: WINDS OF FURY!" her sword was now spinning so fast that she couldn't see it. With all her strength, Leafa aimed it at Laughing Coffin.

"Uh oh," said Kuradeel. Winds once again raced into them, ten times stronger than the last time, thanks to Klein's updraft. Unable to keep his feet on the ground, Kuradeel screamed as he and his underlings flew off into the distance.

Klein's fire vanished and Leafa floated down to the ground. Lisbeth got up, as Laughing Coffin was blown off to who-knows-where.

"Uh who's got the Teleport Crystals?" asked Death Gun.

"Kuradeel does," said Lux

"Teleport! Ruby Palace!" said Kuradeel. He vanished.

"Uh oh,"

_Meanwhile…_

"That was awesome!" said Klein. He looked over Leafa and Lisbeth. "So… is this some kind of gender fluid version of _PreCure_?"

"Kind of," said Yui. "Except this is more like _Tron_,"

Yui explained everything to Klein, about Kayaba, users, SAO, all that stuff.

Klein stared off into the distance after she finished.

"My dad always said I was special," he chuckled. "Although, I don't think he meant capable of wielding magical powers,"

"Welcome to the Heroes of the Fairy Dance," said Leafa.

Klein looked at her and smiled.

"Awesome,"

_Much Later…_

Suguha walked home, happily whistling to herself.

"Your brother is probably asleep now," said Yui.

Leafa giggled.

"He's working on a game, so he stays up pretty late,"

"Oh,"

She unlocked the door and called out.

"I'm home!"

Kazuto stretched his arms and got up from his desk. He walked to the door, before gasping at what he saw.

"What?" said Leafa.

"Uh, hi?" he said, quite stunned.

Leafa gave him a funny look. Then she glanced at herself and her eyes widened.

"AH!"

Quickly, she slammed the door and dashed off, leaving a befuddled Kazuto behind.

"Who was that girl?" he said to himself.

"Why didn't you tell me I was still transformed?!" Leafa yelled at Yui.

"I thought you already knew," Yui innocently replied.

Leafa facepalmed herself.

"Oh relax, I'm sure your brother won't notice," said Yui.

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because he's dense,"

"Oh yeah..." said Leafa. She calmed down and thought for a moment, "Now that you mention it, I don't think I got the same rush of emotions I usually get when I'm around him..."

"Maybe since… Suguha has a crush on him, but Leafa doesn't?"

"That doesn't make any sense,"

"Well, Leafa stares down monsters, and Suguha freaks out from a wasp,"

"You do have a point," Leafa wondered

_A little bit later._

Suguha unlocked the door again, this time as herself.

"I'm home!"

Kazuto walked to the door.

"Oh, Suguha, it's you," he rubbed his eyes. "Say, did you happen to see an attractive cosplaying blonde girl with green eyes walk by?"

"I don't recall… wait, did you say attractive?" Suguha leaned forward a bit.

Kazuto blushed slightly.

"Uh… that just slipped out,"

"Okay, but _was_ she attractive?"

"Well..." Kazuto put his finger to his chin. "Yeah, I'd say she was pretty attractive,"

"Like, _how _attractive?"

"Jeez, since when were you so interested in my love life?"

"You love her?!"

"Well, I only saw her but… Sugu?"

Suguha had run straight to her room and shut the door.

Kazuto blinked.

"Well… better get back to fixing that bug,"

Suguha squirmed about on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

"Oniichanlovesme!Oniichanlovesme!" she squealed.

"Actually, he loves Leafa," said Yui, trying hard not to laugh.

Suguha got up, her face red as a rose.

"Only a minor complication. I'll do whatever it takes,"

Ince Suguha fell asleep, Yui pulled out her recorder.

"Observation #6: Humans seem capable of falling in love with just about anyone, regardless of relations, sex, race, or any other factors. In short: love is blind,"


	5. A cat-tastrophe!

Suguha yawned as the daylight broke into her room.

"Oh good, there's no Rika with a megaphone this time," she said to herself. Yui was sitting on her bedside table, reading manga.

"Say, Suguha," she said. "What's it like to be in love?"

Suguha blinked for a second.

"Why do you want to know that of all things?" she'd never really taken Yui as the romantic type.

Yui showed her a picture from the book, depicting a man professing his love for a woman. "Humans are willing to change their entire life around being with someone else, and include that concept in almost every culture in the world as a core value. It stands to reason that love must feel really wonderful,"

"It is..." Suguha sighed dreamily. She remembered yesterday when Kazuto indirectly called her attractive.

"So… what is it like?"

Suguha thought for a moment.

"What's it like to be in love… It's hard to really explain. It's like… you wanna be with that special someone all the time, and you get excited about being near them… or something like that,"

Yui looked at the girl in the manga.

"I guess love is just something you need to experience to understand..." she closed the book. "I'd like to fall in love someday…"

"Well, if I can kill giant lizards with magic sword-swipes, then anything's possible,"

_Meanwhile, in the Ruby Palace._

"So, let me get this straight," said Kayaba, "You almost killed them,"

"Yes," replied Kuradeel.

"But then another one showed up,"

"Yes,"

"And now the rest of Laughing Coffin is dead,"

"Yes," Kuradeel dared not look up, "My dearest aplogies my lord, I have failed you,"

"You are not the one who has failed, Kuradeel," Kayaba picked up a picture of Yui, "It seems we may have underestimated her power,"

"If I may, perhaps we ought to use the you-know-what,"

"Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how long it takes to bring something of that size into the real world? It's far too valuable to risk at this point,"

"Well, what about our agent?"

"She's doing an important job. It seems I must resort to using Rosalia,"

"You called?"

Both men noticed a red-haired woman standing in the doorway.

"Rosalia, our agent is going to wait until the users are in a state of weakness. Then, she will tell us and you will destroy them" said Kayaba.

"Why yes, Kayaba," Rosalia stroked the end of her sword, "I've been itching for a fight,"

_Back in the real world._

As Kazuto blinked open his eyes, he felt something warm on his body, something alive… with brown hair?

"Rika?"

The girl opened her eyes and looked right back at him.

"Hello, handsome,"

"GET OFF YOU PSYCHO!"

Kirito whacked her off, tsundere style.

"Ow!" said Rika, "Jeez, take a chill pill,"

"What are you doing here? And, matter of fact, what were you doing?"

Rika shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"I came over so I could walk to school with Suguha, but then I saw you sleeping and realized I had an oppourtunity,"

"Well… wait, where's my shirt? And where's yours?"

Rika only had a red bra and her school skirt on.

"Well, it wouldn't be as fun with them on,"

Kazuto huffed and grabbed a black shirt from his closet.

Just then, Suguha ran into the room like a hurricane.

"Onii-chan! What's..." Then she noticed the rather lewd scene that had just unfolded. She blinked and stared for a moment. "What were you two doing?" she said, quickly turning hostile.

"Oh, Sugu! We were… uhh… it's not..." Kazuto stammered.

"Don't look so freaked out," said Rika. "It's not the first time I've slept with you,"

"WHAT?" said Suguha. Even Yui was starting to get scared at this point.

"That's not what she meant! She just climbed into my bed while I was sleeping!" said Kazuto.

Suguha glared at Rika. Before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang

"Oh!" said Rika, grateful for the easy escape, "Better go see who that is!" she dashed off to the door, leaving an angry Suguha with a shirtless Kazuto.

"Uh, I can explain,"he said.

"You better," said Suguha. But despite her anger, she couldn't help staring at her brother's muscular figure.

As the two siblings(not cousins) cleared up the confusion, Rika answered the door.

"Oh, Klein!" she said.

"Hey, Rika. I thought this was Suguha's house," said Klein.

"It is. I just spend my mornings here so I can walk to school with her. And also hang out with her brother,"

As if on cue, Kazuto and Suguha walked over from Kazuto's room.

"Hi Klein!" said Suguha, much calmer than before.

"Hey Sugu… Kirito?" Klein stopped mid sentence.

"Uh," said Kazuto, "Yeah, that's me,"

Klein's eyes darted between Suguha and Kazuto.

"Woah, that's one heck of a coincidence!" he said after a while.

"What is?" asked Kazuto.

"Wait… do you recognize me?"

"Uh… no?"

Klein frowned dissaprovingly.

"It's me! The Salamander Samurai! Heck, my avatar looks exactly like me but with slightly redder hair!"

Kirito narrowed his eyes and looked Klein from head to toe.

"Oh, now I see it," he said, finally. He shook Klein's hand. "Never thought I'd actually meet you IRL. I'm Kazuto Kirigaya,"

"Tsuboi Ryoutarou, but feel free to keep calling me Klein,"

"You two know each other in the game as well?" said Suguha.

"Yeah! We killed the Lunar Wolf together!" said Klein.

"Huh," said Rika. "I thought you looked familiar,"

"You too, Rika? Am I the only one here who doesn't already know you guys through a VRMMO?" said Suguha. Nobody heard her.

"Oh yeah," said Klein. "You're that cute blacksmith with the pink hair,"

"I made a katana for you, right?" said Rika. "It was called… spitfire?"

"Flame Genghis,"

"I don't speak english,"

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Suguha said, quickly. "We better get to school!"

She quickly grabbed her bag, along with Rika and Klein's hands, and walked out the door.

"Woah, deja vu," said Kazuto. He looked at his calender and his eyes widened. "Yikes, only two more days until my game's deadline! I better get to coding!" he quickly turned on his computer and loaded up the engine he was using.

_Meanwhile_

_Okay, Nagata, it didn't go that way two days ago, but this time you are definitely going to tell Suguha how you feel._

"Suguha-chan!" said Nagata, as the three of them passed by him.

"Oh, hey Nagata!" replied Suguha.

"So, yesterday I was going to tell you…"

"Rika Shinozaki!" an authorative female voice said.

One of the teachers was standing in front of them.

"Uhh, I'll tell you later," said Nagata. He ran off.

"Shino-san recently told me that you stole her undergarments," said the teacher.

"I did not!" Rika spat back at her.

The teacher took Rika's bag and emptied it out.

"Hey! That's a violation of the fourth amendment!"

"This is japan," said Klein.

"That's still probably violating something!"

The teacher took out a handful of panties, boxers, tights, and bras from Rika's bag.

"Okay, maybe I took a _little,_" Rika awkwardly grinned.

"Detention for all of you!"

"What?" they all said simultaneously.

"Kirigaya-san and Ryoutarou-san for carrying dangerous objects, Shinozaki-san for theft"

"What dangerous objects?" said Klein.

The teacher indicated to Klein's matchbox and Suguha's sword.

"Well, at least it's not a gun?" said Suguha, awkwardly trying to imitate Rika.

"Detention!"

_Later, in detention. _

Rika groaned on the desk she was sitting at.

"Why does our school have to be the only one in japan that has detention?" she said, rolling over.

"It's not the only school," said Suguha.

"Sure feels like it," said Rika. "I've got no bras, no panties, and she even took my erotic books! I need my erotic books!"

Along with the other three, there was a twelve-year-old girl with brown pigtails sitting in the room. She was stroking a small munchkin cat.

"Rika, you're weird," said the young girl.

"Says the girl who brings her cat into school, Keiko" replied Rika.

"Says the girl who doesn't have a boyfriend to defend her, Rika,"

"Do you two know each other?" said Klein.

"We've known each other since grade school," said Keiko.

"Why do you have your cat here?" said Suguha. "I thought they would've confiscated it,"

"First of all, Pina's a _she _not an _it_. Second of all, they didn't want to take care of her, so they left her with me in detention,"

Pina meowed and rested her head on Keiko's arm.

"Yeah, I'm bored too, Pina," she said.

"Hey, I know!" said Klein. He took out a small box. "Let's play _Torankado _to pass the time!"

_Torankado _was the most popular trading card game at Suguha's school. It was also Klein's favourate game, and would always bring his deck wherever he went.

"Ooh! I love that game!" said Rika. She took out her own deck.

"You two geeks can play, I've got more important work," said Suguha. She was scribbling the names of ever student in school on a piece of paper, and crossing out the ones they had already checked for a pure heart.

As she did this, Keiko walked over to her.

"Just thought you should know, Rika gets kind of… intense when she plays card games,"

"How so?"

"You activated my trap card!" shouted Rika, turning over one of the cards on the table they were playing on. "Fire elemental gets switched to defense mode until your next draw phase!"

"Fine, I use Lava Golem to attack your elvish inventor, and hit two critical triggers on my drive check!" Klein shouted back, turning over the card from his deck.

"My turn now! I roll nat 20, and cast Magic Missle! I move Lava Golem to your bench with Polyswitch, and summon a 0/0 sheep counter in it's place! Now I attack with Leprechaun crusher!"

"I hit a heal trigger, and activate my trap hole! I sacrifice my sheep counter to special summon Fire Kobold!"

"Oh, _that_ kind of intense," said Suguha, as the two battled it out. "I'm Suguha Kirigaya, by the way,"

"Ayano Keiko,"

Suddenly, Yui jumped out of Suguha's pocket and landed on Pina.

"Link Start!"

Keiko's eyes widened for a second. Then she fainted on the desk, scaring Pina into her bag.

"What the..." said Klein.

"I win," said Rika, trimpently placing the last card in Klein's damage counter.

"Darn it, I knew I shouldn't have casted that spell"

"Yui, what happened?" said Suguha, as she tried to wake Keiko.

"I don't know!" said Yui, her wings flapping all over the place as she panicked. "I just noticed she had a pure heart and tried to enchant her pen! I just happened to land on her cat, and then this happened!"

Suguha looked at Pina, who was cowering inside Keiko's bag.

"Weird, there's no difference at all," said Suguha. She tapped Keiko on the shoulder, and checked her breathing.

"Oh, thank goodness she's alive!" Suguha sighed out of relief.

Klein looked at Rika as they put their decks back together.

"You know, you're pretty good at this game for a girl,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she narrowed her eyes.

"I mean, I didn't really think you'd be into this kind of thing,"

"Yeah, right! Next to graphic bonus chapters, specifically the kind between chapter 16 and 17, _Torankado _is the best thing ever!"

"Best of seven wins?"

"Okay!"

As they set up their game again, Keiko's eyes fluttered open.

"Man, did I fall asleep during detention?" she said.

"Uhh," said Suguha, "Yes?" Thankfully, Yui was out of sight.

"Well, I'm wide awake _meow,_"

"What?"

Keiko's eyes widened.

"What the cat did I just say?" she covered her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Suguha asked.

"Well, I'm _feline _fine," Keiko said, "I mean feel… feli… gah! I cat say it right! I mean, I can… cat… Argh!"

Suguha thought to herself.

"Hang on, can you say "perfect"?"

"Uh, _purr-_fect?" Keiko gasped when she heard the strange vibrating noise came from her chest. "Is this some kind of weird dream?"

"As far as I'm concerned, it's not," said Suguha.

Keiko got up from her seat.

"I think I'll go see the nurse," she said.

She started to walk, but she fell over, knocking over her chair.

"Yikes, are you okay?" asked Suguha, offering her hand.

Keiko got up again.

"I think so. Hang on, something feels weird around..." she felt around her bottom. Suguha looked downwards and gasped. Protruding out from Keiko's skirt, was a long brown furry tail. Keiko felt the strange appendage, and her face went white.

Her scream could be heard from outside the school.


	6. Silica

Suguha clamped her hand down on Keiko's mouth before someone could hear her.

"Shush! Announce it to the whole world will you?" she said.

Keiko said something muffled.

"What?" said Suguha. She took her hand off of her.

"I said, I've got a tail!" she exclaimed. The appendage stuck straight up as she said this.

Rika and Klein walked over.

"Weird, that's never happened before," said Rika.

"What do you mean, _before?" _said Keiko.

Klein scratched his chin.

"Maybe it has something to do with the cat," he said.

Rika took Pina out of Keiko's bag and examined her from head to toe.

"Well, she seems normal,"

"Why am I the only one freaking out at this?!" said Keiko, as the others curiously watched her tail.

"Would you believe me if I said that I rode a dragon?" said Rika.

"Uh, no?"

"Then you're gonna need to expand your concept of reality,"

"Huh?"

Rika smirked and gave the tail a light tug. Keiko let out a feline screech.

"Woah, it's part of your body!" said Rika. "I mean, magic wings are one thing, but tails are something else!"

"Will somekitty please explain what in the cat is going on here?!" she covered her mouth when the cat noises returned.

Suguha looked at Yui in her pocket.

"Probably best not to freak her out more than necessary," she whispered.

She sat down in front of Keiko.

"Okay, let's take this step by step. You see, there's a man known as Kayaba Akihiko..."

_Meanwhile, in the hallway._

A girl slipped into the bathroom and pulled out her cellphone. She dialed a number and put it to her ear.

"Rosalia, the users are without their weapons," she said.

"Oh boy, I was getting impatient," replied the voice on the other side.

"Remember, whatever you do, don't underestimate them,"

"Please, Sinon, when have I ever done anything like that?"

"This is your first mission,"

"Your point?"

_In detention. _

"Does any of that make any sense?" asked Suguha, after her long explanation.

"Uh, no," said Keiko. "I sorta understood everything up to the point where you said "Magical girl,"

"Hmmm," Suguha thought for a moment. "Hang on. Yui, please show yourself,"

Yui hopped out of her pocket and hovered in the air.

"Hi Keiko!" she said.

Keiko's eyes widened.

"This is Yui," said Suguha, "She's the one who… well… uh..." she struggled to come up with the right words.

Yui finished her sentence.

"I tried to enchant something that belonged to you so you could get powers and join our team, but I landed on your cat, so I think I sort of… cat-ified you instead. And you haven't even fully transformed yet,"

"There's gonna be MORE?" Keiko panicked.

"Yeah, that's the tricky part," Yui pulled out her tape and started recording, "You see, Keiko, I usually enchant an object that allows the user to transform at will. But this time, it seems I enchanted your cat instead, so you seem to be gradually transforming over time. At least, that's my hypothesis," she put the recorder away. "Oh, and you might wanna check the top of your head,"

"Huh?" Keiko reached upwards and gasped. On top of her head, were two brown catlike ears. "I'm turning into a cat!" she exclaimed trying to suppress her scream.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you'll stop at Neko," said Rika. But Keiko wasn't listening, she was too busy checking her body for any more cat parts.

"Hmm," Yui thought for a moment. "It might help if you hold Pina, and say, "Username: Silica!" or something"

"Are you crazy?" said Keiko. "I don't wanna change _more! _Cat you just reverse this or something?!"

"Sorry, no refunds," said Yui, casually floating over to Keiko's bag.

"Well, that's just purr-fect… Dang cattit!" said Keiko. "What are my purr-ents going to say? Do you think they'll buy it if I say it's puberty?"

"Probably not," said Rika, "But hey! New life as a catgirl! Great, huh?"

Keiko blinked.

"Sorry, this is just a lot to absorb. I'll take a catna..." she stopped mid-sentence and passed out on the floor.

"Again?" said Klein. "Now she's acting catlike,"

Suguha got up and paced the floor.

"Now what?" she said, "Keiko's a cat, she's not cooperating, and our weapons are gone!"

Rika cleared her throat.

"That… last one may have been my fault. But really, who keeps their panties in their locker and doesn't expect anyone to steal them?"

Suddenly, the principal's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Attention! The school is on hard lockdown!"

The three students looked at each other, and Keiko. They had never been in a hard lockdown that wasn't a drill before. Quickly, they pushed Keiko's sleeping body out of sight and hid behind a cabinet.

"What do you think is going on?" Suguha whispered.

"I don't know," said Rika, "What if it's a terrorist?"

"Or the Yakuza?" Klein added. Suguha and Rika stared at him.

"What?"

Time passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes. They huddled close, breathing as quietly as possible. They kept glancing over at Keiko and Pina, who were both sound asleep. Until finally, the silence was broken.

They heard the sound of a door being smashed to the floor, followed by screaming. They heard a female voice.

"Hmm, not in here," the stranger said loudly.

Another door, this one closer.

"Not here either,"

The class right next to the detention room screamed. The door was smashed soon after.

"I think I'm getting warmer,"

"Is she coming after us?" Rika said to Suguha.

"Maybe she's one of Kayaba's mercenaries?" said Yui.

"Or the Yakuza," Klein added.

The door to the detention room fell downwards, slashed straight off the hinges. A woman with curly red hair, shiny black, and red armor, and holding a long cross-shaped spear walked into the room.

Without warning, Keiko's eyes slowly opened.

"Mmm, five more minutes mom..." she took one look at the woman and yelped.

The newcomer blinked.

"A… a catgirl? Seriously, why were they so concerned about these users?"

She pointed her spear at Keiko.

"Oh well, easy pickings I guess,"

Suddenly, Rika ran out from behind the cabinet.

"Hey! Hot redhead! Leave her alone!"

"First of all, I'm Rosalia." Rosalia flicked her hair out of her eye. "Second of all, who are you, and why do you care?"

"Me?" said Rika, pretending to look taken aback. "I'm Lisbeth! The Harmonious Blacksmith!" She posed with a chalkboard eraser.

Rosalia was unimpressed.

"Right. Weren't you supposed to have a gauntlet or something?"

"Uh..." Rika stuttered.

Suguha sighed.

"Looks like it's up to me again," she said, walking over to the wall. She grabbed a meter stick and held it like a sword. "And I'm Leafa! The sorceress of swords!"

"And yet, you wield a meter stick," Rosalia pointed out.

Suguha paid no attention and charged at her. Rosalia casually parried and thrust with her spear for a while, showing no sign of interest.

Keiko was mentally pinching herself.

"Uh… Rika? Is this what you get up to these past few days?"

"Basically," Rika threw random objects at Rosalia, who blocked them with ease. "Sorry, I don't have my hook, so I can't show you my real power,"

"Hah!" said Rosalia. "You three are useless without your weapons. And then only one here with any power at all is a scaredy…"

Pina jumped straight at Rosalia's face.

"What the…?" said Yui.

"CAT! CAT! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!" Rosalia screamed as she hobbled about, trying to grab the frenzied feline off her face.

"Pina!" exclaimed Keiko.

"Is it weird that this is kinda funny?" said Rika, suppressing a giggled. Rosalia was screaming and tripping over things as Pina continued her ferocious attack.

"Was I just bested… by a cat?" said Suguha.

Rosalia finally managed to tear Pina from her face.

"Finally! I've had enough of you!" she threw Pina across the floor, who landed next to Keiko.

"Pina!" she exclaimed. She quickly scooped the animal, who, thankfully, was still very much alive,"

"Your little cretin is no match for me!" said Rosalia. She pointed her spear at Keiko. "Infinite Spear!"

Her weapon glowed red and she started running towards her target. In that second, Keiko remembered what Yui told her.

"Username: Silica!"

A bright flash of orange flight pushed Rosalia back.

"What the..."

Rika chuckled.

"You outta be reading Tv Tropes more often," she said. "If you did, then you'd know that transformation is a free action!"

The surroundings around Keiko vanished, as she and Pina floated off the ground into a bright orange void. Upbeat pop music played, as Keiko instinctively pulled a sharp dagger out of thin air. Her school clothes turned into a red robe that exposed her shoulders, along with a short black skirt, fingerless red gloves, and black asymmetrical shoes with long black socks. She spun around, light flying off of her dagger, and called out.

"With feline grace and reptilian strength, we will conquer all who challenge us! Dragon Master Silica!"

As everything faded, the newborn magical girl glanced at herself.

"Oh my… what have I just gotten myself into?"

She turned around and gasped. In place of where Pina was sitting, there was a small dragon, about the same size as the cat, covered in soft blue feathers. It had red eyes, a sharp beak, and two long feathers in place of a tail.

"Pina?" said Silica.

The tiny dragon flapped its wings and landed gracefully on Silica's shoulder.

"So the little cat's a lizard now? Or is a bird?" said Rosalia. "Doesn't matter, I've been waiting for a decent challenge," she grinned. "S-charge!"

Her spear glowed again, as she dashed towards Silica, who was knocked off her feet, unprepared.

"Hah! And you call yourselves powerful!"

Pina screeched like a falcon, making everyone in the room cover their ears. Then, she shot a green ball of energy at Rosalia from her mouth. It collided with its target before Rosalia could process.

"Ow!" she said. "Alright, no more playing around!"

She jabbed at Pina, who dodged and shot more energy. They maneuvered around each other, trying to get at the other.

"Silica!" said Yui. "Use your dagger to defeat Rosalia while Pina distracts her!"

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm a pixie! And you're literally the only one with any power at the moment!"

"Oh that's right!" said Suguha. "Guys, let's get our weapons!"

Suguha, Klein and Rika, all ran down to hallway to retrieve their items.

Silica was about to run after them, but Yui grabbed her by the tail.

"Ouch!" she screeched.

"Sorry, but you _can _defeat her!"

"No I can't!" said Silica, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm not strong enough!"

"What do you mean? You have all the power you need! All you need to do is run over and stab her!"

"I can't!"

"Seriously? I mean, look at Pina! She's one-tenth Rosalia's size, and she's beating her to a pulp!"

Rosalia saw an opening and whacked the little dragon into the wall.

"Pina!" exclaimed Silica.

"Oh, what are you gonna do about it?" taunted Rosalia.

"I...I..." Silica stuttered. Then, something clicked inside her. She didn't know if it was bravery or insanity, but she somehow found it in herself, to run right up to Rosalia.

"F-Feline Frenzy!" she yelled. She slashed back and forth across Rosalia's face, screeching cat noises.

"Yes! You did it!" said Yui.

"What the…?" said Rosalia. Silica pounced on top of her head and pulled at her hair.

"OW! Watch the hair!"

Just then, Leafa, Lisbeth and Klein ran into the room, fully transformed, and ready to fight.

"Hey! Rosalia!" said Leafa.

Silica hopped off and ran over to Lisbeth.

"Guys! It's so great to see you!" she said. "And you look amazing!"

"Thanks!" said Lisbeth.

Rosalia growled.

"I've just about had it with your users!" she said. She raised her spear. "Now it's time for the real fight to..."

"Winds of Fury!" said Leafa.

Lisbeth tossed a desk into the hurricanes, as Rosalia was pressed against a wall.

"What the… AH!"

The table slammed right into her face, as the winds died down. Rosalia rested on the floor of the room, dazed.

"Hey, uh," said Silica. "Is it normal to suddenly know all of dragon Pina's abilities?"

"Not really," said Leafa.

"Good," said Silica. "Pina! Use Power-Up Aura!"

Pina squawked in response and breathed a green mist at the three of them.

"Woah, I feel stronger!" said Leafa.

"Hey! We should try that new trio attack we talked about!" said Lisbeth.

"Sounds like a plan!" said Klein. He ignited his sword and swung it about. Leafa fanned his flame, creating large plumes of fire all around them. Lisbeth raised her gauntlet, and the fire was absorbed right into it, causing it to glow orange.

"Now it's time to finish this!" said Lisbeth. She pointed her gauntlet at Rosalia. "Here's a classic. Trio Attack: Explosion!" she yelled. An orange ball fired right out of her palm. Rosalia screamed as the projectile hit her, creating a fiery explosion of light and sound, blasting Rosalia through the wall, and out of the school.

Rosalia rubbed her head and glared at the users. Her hair was charred, her clothes were ruined, and she had bruises and burns all over her.

"You may win this round!" she said. She pulled out a blue crystal. "Teleport! Ruby Palace!" With a flash of blue light, she was gone.

_After these events…_

"That was epic!" said Klein.

"I know, right?!" said Rika. She looked at the large hole in the wall. "Although, it's gonna be pretty hard to clean this up. And we're gonna have to come up with something to tell the teachers,"

"Just tell them she had a bomb," said Yui.

"You know, that just might work," said Suguha.

"And it looks like we have a new member!" said Rika, offering her hand to Keiko.

She looked at it for a moment.

"No thanks," she said.

Everyone else looked at her strangely.

"You… don't wanna be a part of the Heroes of the Fairy Dance?" said Yui.

"No. Look, I'm not trying to be mean, it's just that… I'm not really the kind of person who would fight villains with superpowers," Keiko awkwardly looked away. "I mean, I really don't wanna have this kind of life. Heck, this could make my life _shorter_!"

"Ah… that's actually a good point," said Rika.

"But we need you!" said Klein. "It's not easy to find someone who can properly wield these powers!"

"I'm sorry, but this… this is not what I want," said Keiko. She picked up Pina and walked out of the room.

The Heroes of the Fairy Dance all looked at each other in discomfort.

"Well, shoot," said Rika.


	7. Kirito

_Saturday._

Suguha paced around in her dojo.

"Well, this is just perfect! We were gonna get our fourth member, but Keiko ran out on us! Now, what do we do?"

"Can't we just find another pure heart?" said Rika.

"We could, but, where are we gonna find someone who _won't _use powers like these for personal gain?"

Klein looked over at Kazuto, who was furiously typing away at his computer.

"Uh, are you sure we should be discussing stuff like this around him?" he indicated.

"Don't worry about it," said Suguha. "My brother never notices anything when he's coding. Watch this,"

She walked over to him.

"Hey, Onii-chan! Will you marry me?" she said. Kazuto didn't react in the slightest.

"See? Nothing," she walked back over.

_In the Ruby Palace._

"Rosalia! Report!" said Kayaba.

"They… had a catgirl," said Rosalia, applying rubbing alcohol to her wounds.

"I see," Kayaba rubbed his chin. "I suppose we have no choice, but to use the _you-know-what"_

Everyone gasped.

"Shouldn't we have done that, to begin with?" said Kuradeel.

"You know what? Maybe we should have," said Kayaba.

_Suguha's rooftop._

Yui stretched her arms out, relaxing on the roof with a glass of lemonade.

"This is so nice..." she said. "Humans are lucky to live with such a warm sun,"

She heard a thump. Then another. Confused, Yui floated up and gasped.

_Dojo._

Yui flew straight into the room, panting.

"Guys!" she cried. "Look outside!"  
Everyone looked at her questioningly.

Suguha opened one of the large sliding doors and gasped.

"Uh-oh," she said.

Rika and Klein looked out as well.

"What is that thing?" said Klein.

Off into the distance was a large blue creature, five times the size of Illfang. It had a huge muscular body, and a goats head, all covered in dark blue. It was a few miles away from the edge of town, slowly walking closer.

"That's… " said Klein.

"The Gleam Eyes," said Yui. "The 27th strongest monster under Kayaba's control,"

"What's the 26th?" asked Rika.

"A giant skeleton snake that moves at the speed of a train," said Yui.

"Forget about that!" said Klein, pulling out his matchbox. "We gotta stop it before it reaches town!"

"Or… maybe it would be better to just call the military?" said Suguha. Yui shook her head.

"Virtual monsters are immune to conventional weaponry. A nuclear missile wouldn't scratch it,"

"Doesn't matter!" said Rika. She pulled out her hook. Suguha shrugged and grabbed her sword.

"Link start!"

_One transformation later…_

Leafa, Rika, and Klein all dashed straight to the outskirts of town, flying with perfect skill despite never practicing before.

"You know, if the stakes weren't so high, this would be kinda fun," said Leafa. She did a quick barrel roll and laughed while doing so.

"Focus!" said Yui, who was doing her best to keep up.

"Fine," Leafa pouted.

Soon, they came up to the Gleam Eyes. Thankfully, the outskirts of town were mostly just open field, with only a single road with barely any cars to witness the giant monster.

"Hey! Goat Face!" said Leafa. "Sylph Slash!"

When the Gleam Eyes saw the attack coming, it raised a large zanbato and blocked the attack with ease. Noticing the three Heroes, it stopped its progress and roared at them.

"Uh-oh," said Klein.

"Oh yeah?" said Lisbeth. "Take this! And this! And this!"

She fired three pink bolts of energy in rapid succession. But the Gleam Eyes blocked all of them. It started walking towards the three users, who were hovering about fifty feet in the air.

"Uhh..." Klein fumbled with his sword. "Fire Blast!" he drew a Kanji in the air with his sword and launched it at the Gleam Eyes like Leafa. But, the beast swung its weapon and the attack dissipated like a candle flame.

"Okay, new plan," said Leafa. "We'll attack him simultaneously from three different angles. He won't be able to deal with..."

The Gleam Eyes swatted the three of them into the ground like a flyswatter, creating a loud THUMP!

"Ow," said Rika. The Gleam Eyes raised its sword over them. Quickly, they hopped out of the way before it made contact with the ground, sending dust up into the air.

"Now what?" said Klein.

"Let's all run at him from the front, and attack as fast as possible!" said Leafa.

"You mean, group up and hit it till it dies?" said Klein.

"You mean, aggro him?" said Lisbeth.

"Doesn't matter!" said Leafa. She charged ahead. Lisbeth and Klein followed suit.

"Zephyr blades!"

"Kinetic strike!"

"Fire Spin!"

All three heroes ran for the Gleam Eyes' chest, but it reacted quickly, blocking all three of them with its sword, and punching them off with its other hand. Once again, they hit the ground.

"Double ow," said Rika.

"What now?" said Klein.

"Uhh," Leafa scratched the back of her head. "I'm out of plans,"

"That quickly?" said Rika.

"Wait, what if we..." said Klein.

After a moment of discussion, Klein and Leafa created giant plumes of fire and sent them into Lisbeth's gauntlet.

"Rule of cool!" she said, aiming at the Gleam Eyes. "Trio attack: Explosion!"

She shot the projectile at the Gleam eyes. But, once again, the creature slapped the attack away like a baseball, sending the Explosion off into the distance.

"Uh-oh," said Rika, putting down her weapon. "I sure hope that doesn't hit anybody,"

The Gleam Eyes started slashing back and forth.

"Run!" said Leafa. They all starting running amock in various directions.

"Uh, what do we do know?" said Rika.

"How should I know?" said Leafa. "I'm fifteen for goodness sake!"

_Back at Suguha's house._

Kazuto gleefully clicked the "Upload" button and rested his head back.

"It's finally done!" he said. "My first game!"

He then realized Suguha was no longer in the room with him.

"That's weird. Where did Sugu go?"

He found a small piece of paper on his desk, so he picked it up and read it.

_Hey, Onii-chan!_

_Sorry about disappearing, I had to go do some… stuff with… friends, or something like that. Probably won't be back for a while. By the way, whatever you do, don't… _

The doorbell rang. Kazuto put down the note and went to the front door. When he opened it, he was quite surprised to see a young girl wearing a black hood.

"Uh, hi?" he said.

The girl looked up at him. She paused for a moment, her eyes widening. Then she said, "H-hi. I'm Keiko. Do you know where I can find Suguha?"

"Not at the moment. I'm her brother, Kazuto Kirigaya,"

"Pleased to meet you. Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Probably not for a while. She left me a note saying she's doing some stuff with friends,"

"What _kind _of stuff?"

"Uh… it didn't specify,"

Keiko eyed the piece of paper. She picked it up and read it.

_...go to the outskirts of town. There's a… thing going on down there… and I'm doing something else, that's all. I'm not anywhere near the thing, that's not what I'm saying. I just wanted to mention that I'm doing stuff, and the thing is something in the outskirts of town that you should avoid. _

_ XOXO Suguha._

"What kind of teenage sister signs off with "XOXO?" said Keiko.

"Mine does," said Kazuto. "She just sort of… does that kind of thing. I don't know why it's just her being her,"

Keiko gave him a strange look and shrugged it off.

"Look, Kazuto, I think your sister may be in danger,"

"Why?"

She pointed to the note.

"Seriously? You don't see what I see? She even put in the hesitations!"

"I don't get it"

Keiko facepalmed.

"You are so dense,"

_Back at the battle._

The three of them had given up trying to strategize and had taken to flying out of reach while firing various attacks at the monster.

"You know, this kinda feels like King-Kong!" said Rika, tossing a bronze gear at its eye.

"Hey! It's you again!" said someone from the ground.

Leafa paused for a second and gasped when she saw a familiar black-haired boy waving at her.

"Kazuto?!" she yelped. Unfortunately, the Gleam Eyes noticed her pause and slapped to the ground in front of Kazuto.

Leafa dusted herself off and turned to face her brother.

"What the heck are you doing here?" she said.

Kazuto simply shrugged it off.

"Keiko said that I should come to the outskirts of town because my sister might be in danger,"

"And it looks like I was right," said Keiko, who was standing next to Kazuto's motorcycle. Surprisingly, she had her cat ears and tail back.

"What the… I thought you didn't wanna join us!"

"I don't! But I also don't want my best friend getting hurt!"

"How does bringing _him _here help us?"

"I don't know. I just assumed Yui would do that thing she did to me,"

"Yui?" said Kazuto.

Leafa sighed and turned to him.

"I thought I told you to keep out of the outskirts of town!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The note I left you!"

Kazuto looked at her strangely.

"My sister left me a note. Not you. I don't even know you,"

"Wait… you mean you don't recognize me? Standing in front of you? _Talking _to you?"

"Uhh, no. Am I supposed to?"

Keiko and Leafa fell over anime style for a second.

"Okay, forget about that!" said Leafa. She pulled Yui out of her pocket. "Whaddya think?" she said.

"Hmm, yep, he'll do,"

"Do for what?" said Kazuto.

Leafa took a deep breath.

"Okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but we need you to let this fairy enchant one of your belongings so you can turn into one of us and defeat that monster over there," she pointed to Gleam Eyes.

"Pixie," said Yui.

"Uh, I don't have time for any roleplaying at the moment," said Kazuto.

"ROLE-PLAYING?" said Keiko and Leafa.

"I have cat ears for goodness sake!" said Keiko.

"Isn't that a costume?"

"There's a giant monster!" said Leafa.

"I thought that was a hologram,"

"Those two are flying!" she pointed to Rika and Klein.

"Oh! Hi Kazuto!" said Rika.

"Hey buddy!" said Klein.

"Isn't that an AR thing?"

Yui facepalmed.

"Okay, let's just get this over with,"

She floated into Kazuto's pocket.

"Ah-hah! A phone! Link start!"

Confused, Kazuto took out his phone, which was now glowing turquoise. It shifted and rearranged itself into two sword hilts, one black, one greenish-blue. Long blades shot out of them like lightsabers.

Kazuto immediately recognized the weapons as Dark Repulsor and Elucidator, the swords he used in Sword Art Online.

"Did I fall asleep with my NerveGear on again?" he said.

Yui facepalmed and sighed.

"You know what? Let's just go with that. And going by that logic, we kinda need your help with a boss raid," she said sarcastically, gesturing to the Gleam Eyes.

"Well… I guess my game can wait," he said, eagerly taking a battle stance. "Username: Kirito!"

"Wait, but I didn't even say..."

A glowing light shone out from Kazuto's swords, swallowing everything into a shimmering background of a starry night sky, while techno music played. Similarly to Leafa, ribbons of blue light flew out from the weapon. Unlike Leafa, they formed into a single glowing ring, that passed down his body, turning his clothes into a black outfit, complete with a black trench coat with silver highlights, black fingerless gloves, and a double hilt on his back for his swords. He cackled and posed with both swords.

"All the stars in the universe align! Kirito, the Black Swordsman!" he said.

The background faded, and Kirito stretched his arms. Then he stopped when he saw the Gleam Eyes.

"Wait a minute… this isn't SAO, that's a real monster, and those people are flying!"

Yui blinked.

"Huh, well that's convenient. Anyway, mind helping us kill it?"

Kirito blinked for a second and grinned.

"Oh, heck yeah. Time to serve up a sweet platter of justice!"

Kirito dashed at the Gleam Eyes, swords outstretched, while Leafa and Keiko stared.

"He's… fast," said Leafa.

The Gleam Eyes saw him and brought it's zanbato down onto him. But, to everyone's amazement, Kirito parried the attack and slashed at one of the Gleam Eyes' legs.

"He's strong," said Keiko.

Kirito yelled out and jumped fifty feet into the air, right up to the Gleam Eyes' head.

"Starburst Stream!" he yelled.

His swords glowed brightly, and he slashed at the monster over and over again. The Gleam Eyes screamed as Kirito continued his relentless attack on every inch of its body. He had no wings, but he dashed from target to target like a dragonfly. He stabbed, slashed, thrust, parried, and the Gleam Eyes' was helpless.

Klein and Lisbeth saw their chance and joined Kirito in his assault. Lisbeth used every gadget at her disposal, and Klein summoned a solar flare's worth of fire. Leafa and Keiko got over their shock at the new user and joined in. Keiko transformed and stabbed rapidly with her dagger, while Pina shot a Power-Up aura that multiplied her damage tenfold. Leafa used everything she'd ever learned about sword-fighting.

Finally, the Gleam Eyes gave out one last roar, before falling to the ground like an avalanche, dead. The five of them descended to the field, Kirito hopping down the monster's body like a step ladder, and Silica holding on to Pina by the feet.

"Okay, lemme get this straight," said Kirito. "So, Kayaba Akihiko made some kind of portal that can send a virtual monster to the real world and wants to use them to build a giant one to bring Aincrad through so he can unleash hell upon us, but Yui escaped him and gave all of us special powers to fight back?"

Yui looked at him, baffled.

"Uh, yes," she said, "How did you know that? I never mentioned it,"

"Klein told me during the battle,"

Kirito turned to Klein and Lisbeth.

"So… this is why you've been hanging out so much these past few days,"

"Yep," said Klein.

"I thought you were dating or something,"

Lisbeth blushed slightly.

"W-why would you think that?"

Then he looked at Keiko.

"So, those are actual cat ears?"

"I also have a tail," she replied.

Finally, he looked at Leafa.

"Uh… hi…?" she said.

"Hey," he said. "It's nice to meet you without the giant monster,"

Leafa blinked. _Wait. Does he not recognize me? That's weird. I mean, you'd think he'd make at least some kind of connection._

"Well, you see..." she started to say. Then she stopped. She thought back about when he was taking down the Gleam Eyes. _Those moves were so… amazing. And his hair looks even better when it's blown about like that. And he's so smart and determined… wait, why am I thinking like this? Why is my heart beating so fast? Why does it look like there's a glittering background behind… oh no. Don't fall in love, don't fall in love, whatever you do. Don't. Fall. In. Love. _

"Are you okay?" he said. Leafa yelped when she heard his voice again.

_Oh crud, I fell in love. Hard. _She looked at him again. _You know, if I tell him I'm his sister, I'll lose any chance of ever being close to him. I bet Suguha would want me to keep quiet about it too, so… _

"Oh yes! I'm Leafa," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you,"

"Charmed,"

Lisbeth walked over to Silica.

"So… that was pretty brave of you," she said.

Silica blushed.

"D-don't get the wrong idea," she said. "I was just… worried for you,"

"Right,"

Silica piped up.

"And also, it turns out if I don't transform for a while, I start turning back into a cat! And I can't transform around my parents, so..."

"You're joining us?"

Silica sighed.

"It seems I have no choice..."

Kirito walked over.

"So," he said. "I guess that makes you our fifth member,"

"Fifth?"

"I just joined," he laid his head back.

"And you're just okay with this?"

He thought for a moment.

"Honestly, this life doesn't seem too different from SAO,"

Silica blushed slightly as he smiled at her.

"Maybe this won't be so bad," she said to herself.

"What?" said Lisbeth.

"Nothing!"


	8. Confrontation END ARC 1

As night fell, Kirito and Leafa walked home together. As they engaged in simple conversation, Leafa experiencing new emotions that she hadn't even heard of before. Of course Suguha was familiar with being in love with Kazuto, but to Leafa it was a whole new experience. Leafa enjoyed their conversation and wanted to savor every moment, but she also felt a tiny feeling tugging at her. The shame that she was lying to someone she liked.

Eventually, the two of them reached the house and Leafa realized she had no other choice.

"Well, here's my house," said Kirito, "Thanks for walking home with me Leafa. It'll be a pleasure saving the world with you,"

_Why does he have to be such a sweet-talker? _Leafa took a deep breath.

"Th-thanks for that," she said. There was no way out of it. Even if she snuck off and turned back into Suguha, he would still find out eventually. And then, there goes that happy ending she'd been dreaming of.

But then she thought of something. It probably wouldn't be the smartest move, and Suguha wouldn't be very happy. But all she could think of was being with Kirito.

Leafa smiled.

"You know, you're a really nice guy Kirito,"

His eyes widened.

"Really?" he said. Being a shut-in teenage boy with hardly any real life friends didn't exactly mean that he was used to attractive girls complimenting him.

"Yep! Your sister is probably really lucky,"

"Well… wait a minute, how did you know I have a sister?"

Leafa paused and mentally slapped herself.

She sighed. "You know what? Let's just skip to the important part,"

Before Kirito could ask, Leafa grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him on the lips.

…

Kazuto stood in front a grinning Leafa, quite baffled. He was about to question what had just occurred, when she placed her middle finger on her sword's gem.

"Logout," she said.

In a flash of green light, Leafa vanished. In her place, was an extremely red-looking Suguha.

"What the…?" said Kazuto. His jaw was hanging wide open. "Suguha? You're Leafa?"

"Well..." she awkwardly figeted with her hands. "Yes?"

The two siblings stared at each for a while in awkward silence. Kazuto's brain immediately ran through the whole scenerio. Once he managed to figure out what didn't make sense, he calmed down.

"Okay, three questions," he said "First, how did this happen? I turn around, and suddenly all my friends have superpowers. Second, why didn't you tell me sooner? I could've helped you! And third, why did you just kiss me?" he seemed especially embarrased about that last one.

Suguha sighed.

"It all started last Friday. Yui flew into the dojo while I was practicing and turned me into Leafa. Then, after defeating a giant Kobold thing, she said I have to find four more people to defeat Kayaba. I didn't tell you because..." she paused for a second. "I kinda thought you'd figure it out. I mean, how often do you meet another girl with the exact same facial structure and body shape as me?" Kazuto was still staring at her awkwardly.

"I… suppose I can put that aside," he said. Then he sighed, "What about that kiss?"

This was the part that Suguha was dreading. She hadn't thought that this moment would come like this, but there was no escaping.

"The thing is…" she had trouble finding the right words. "When I turn into Leafa, I… change. Not just physically, but also emotionally. I feel… more confident… braver… and more optimistic. It's like I'm a completely different person. And that other person… was brave enough to do something I've always wanted to do, but never could because I was too scared of what you would think of me," There it was. She had said it. She looked at her brother, waiting for his reaction, but to her surprise, he was wearing the same blank expression that he usually wears.

"I don't get it," he said.

Suguha turned even redder. She stared at the ground.

"I… have feelings for you. I like you… more than a brother,"

Kazuto's eyes widened.

"Are you saying that you..."

"I love you, okay!" she blurted out. She was growing tired of his obliviousness.

Kazuto stared at her silently, neither saying a word.

Finally, he spoke.

"Suguha… I think it's best that we forget this conversation,"

"W-what?" she said.

"I mean, I don't even know how this happened to begin with, but what can we do about it?"

"Tell me what you feel about me!" Suguha felt tears forming.

Kazuto awkwardly looked at the floor.

"I don't even know anymore," he replied "Earlier, I just thought of you as my little sister. Nothing more, nothing less. But, then I met the… other you. I didn't really know it was you, so I didn't really think it would be a problem if I..." he stopped, his face turning slightly red. "It doesn't matter. We're siblings, so that kind of relationship between us would be all kinds of wrong,"

"But..."

Kazuto avoided her watery eyes. "And then you have what society would think of it. It just wouldn't work out, one way or another," he felt his heart beat faster. "I mean, if we were cousins it would be different, but we're not. And… I'm sorry Sugu but it just isn't gonna work,"

Suguha wiped a tear from her eye and looked at the ground.

"I-it's okay," she lied.

Without saying another word, the two of them walked inside the house and into their rooms.

_That night._

Suguha stood in the middle of a dark room. At least, she thought it was a room. She couldn't really see anything, so it was hard to tell.

"Hey," said someone.

Suguha turned around, and her eyes widened. Standing in front of her, was Leafa.

"What the… another me?"

Leafa chuckled.

"Dreams don't make much sense, do they?"

"This is a dream?" asked Suguha. She looked around in the dark abyss.

Leafa shrugged.

"Don't question it. Anyway, it's nice to actually talk to you for once," she walked up to Suguha.

"Wait, how are you here? I mean, you're just me, and I'm also here,"

"Not exactly," said Leafa. She walked around the room. "I don't know everything about it, but I think I sort of… formed out of your thoughts,"

"What?"

"It's like, I'm what you would be if you were more confident. An ideal version of you, if that makes sense,"

Suguha looked Leafa up and down.

"Wait, so you're the person who I become when I transform?"

"Essentially," Leafa examined Suguha. "Although, in a way, I'm also you,"

Suguha blinked.

"But, don't we both have the same thoughts?"

"Not here," said Leafa. "In the dream, we become seperate entities. It's the only place we can keep secrets from one another,"

Suguha tried to process this.

"Weird, I never thought becoming a magical girl would give me a split personality," she said.

Leafa smiled sympathetically, and then remembered something.

"So… I guess you want to ask about your brother,"

Suguha also stopped smiling and grimaced.

"Why exactly did you kiss him?"

Leafa frowned.

"I wanted you to tell him about your feelings, so you would stop fantasising about something that just can't be,"

Suguha sighed.

"But… I love him," she said. It was a tiny desperate wish, never to be granted.

Leafa walked over and placed her hand on Suguha's shoulder.

"It's better this way,"

Suguha nodded sadly.

Leafa thought of something to cheer her up.

"You know, since this is a dream, we can do anyting we want!"

She perked up.

"Anything?"

"Anything,"


	9. Welcome to Sword Art Online!

"NO!" exclaimed Kayaba, slamming his fist on his throne. "How did they defeat the Gleam Eyes?"

Kuradeel and Rosalia looked at each other in confusion.

"I... don't know," said Kuradeel. "But it has something to do with that new user,"

"His name is Kirito," said Rosalia. "He's a hardcore SAO player, and a soon-to-be independent game developer,"

"Well, this is troublesome. Now they have a complete team, and we've just suffered a major defeat. Also, that Gleam Eyes was expensive. _Really_ expensive," said Kayaba.

"It seems we may have to change tactics, your highness," said Kuradeel.

Kayaba stroked his chin.

"Okay, let's think. What are we doing wrong?" he said. "What are their characters?"

"Leafa is a sylph swordswoman," said Rosalia. "Lisbeth is a leprechaun cyborg, Klein is a salamander swordsman, Silica is a cat saith beast tamer, and Kirito is a spriggan dual wielder,"

"A complete team," said Kayaba. "With that combination of abilities, they could effectively pull off thousands of potential strategies and techniques," Kayaba thought for a long time. Then his eyes widened. "That's it!"

Kuradeel and Rosalia looked at him strangely,

"Erm, what is?" said Kuradeel.

Kayaba chuckled.

"I don't know why I didn't see it before. You see, these "Fairy Dancers" are powerful because they can combine their abilities into stronger attacks! But Laughing Coffin never did anything like that!" he said, looking pleased with himself.

"So what should we do?" said Kuradeel.

"Easy! We'll create our own team of users!"

"A brilliant idea, my lord,"

"That sounds good, except for one problem," said Rosalia. "Who would be willing to join our cause?"

"Well, Yui managed to find five users in a week," said Kayaba, "And we have much more money and power than her, so this should simple. And we already have Sinon!"

"Excellent, your highness," said Kuradeel. "I shall have our scouts start looking for potential candidates immediately,"

_Meanwhile, in the real world._

"A Magical Girl's duty is to protect those in danger," said Yuuki. The brown-haired girl raised a black sword in the air" And so, I will punish you!"

"Yuuki!" Asuna called to her younger sister, "Get out of that alleyway! Mom will be really mad if we're late home again,"

"Coming nee-chan!" said Yuuki. "Vertical Square!" she sliced the makeshift monster in two, sending the cardboard box toppling to the ground. Yuuki giggled and ran to her orange-haired sister.

Asuna sighed. Yuuki was in high school now, yet she still kept her "Magical Girl," chuunibyou. Asuna wouldn't really mind, she actually found her sister's antics quite amusing, but their mother would constantly berate Yuuki for her behavior, always saying she should be more like Asuna. Asuna was what you would call a "Model student," Rich, good grades, pretty, popular, everything about her was just about perfect. Yuuki had all of these traits, her grades were phenomenal, she was as beautiful as a delicate flower, and any boy would consider themselves lucky to be in the same room as her. Sadly, no one seemed capable of looking past her chuunibyou, and thus she remained a social outcast, while her sister had admirers to spare. Yuuki didn't seem to mind, she seemed more focused on defeating whatever monster of the week she conjured out of her imagination.

When the two sisters got home, their mother was waiting for them in the living room.

"You're late," she said.

"Sorry, mother," said Asuna.

"It was necessary," said Yuuki, "The cult of..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses," said their mother. "Yuuki, how many times must I tell you until you finally grow up?"

"But mother..."

"Don't interrupt me! You do realize that..."

As Yuuki argued with her mother, Asuna sighed, knowing that this family was growing further apart by the day.

_Meanwhile, in the Ruby Palace._

"These girls seem perfect," said Rosalia, watching the family argue on a large TV. "They're healthy, good-natured, not on good terms with the world, and one of them even has chuunibyou!"

"Excellent," said Kayaba, rubbing his hands together. "Tomorrow, after school, we shall bring them here and turn them into magical girls," Kayaba let out an evil chuckle. "And soon the world will be ours,"

_Meanwhile, in the Kirigaya household_

"Good morning, Suguha!" said Yui, as Suguha awoke.

"Good morning, Yui," said Suguha, rubbing her eyes. She had enjoyed her slumber with Leafa. While in the realm of dreams, she had time to mull over every aspect of her love life. Part of her understood that her crush was silly and just plain weird. Another part was somewhat mad at Kazuto for being so dense. However, a small part of her mind still secretly wanted him to love her as much as she did.

Suguha got out of bed, threw on some clothes, and walked to the dojo.

"Good morning, Sugu!" said Kazuto. He seemed as cheerful as ever, as he clicked about various webpages on his computer.

"Good morning, onii-chan," said Suguha, "How's your game going?"

"Great, actually," said Kazuto. "So far, I've had fifty purchases total," he showed her the number on his computer.

"Wow! That's amazing!" said Suguha. Kazuto didn't seem remotely fazed by their little slip-up yesterday. _I guess he meant what he said when he asked me to forget about my confession. I should do the same, for the sake of both of us._

"And, I realized that I had enough money to buy this for you," he reached into his backpack and pulled out a large box.

"A... a NerveGear? With a pre-installed copy of Sword Art Online?"

Kazuto chuckled.

"Well, what better place to discuss magical secrets than in Sword Art Online? Everyone will just think that we're roleplayers,"

"Sounds great!" said Suguha, taking the box. "I'll get set up right away!"

"I'll meet you in the Town of Beginnings."

Suguha giggled and walked to her room. She opened up the box and took out the large blue helmet, then read the instructions, plugged in the headset, placed it on her head, and laid down on her bed.

"Link Start!

The room around her grew dark, as a mass of colors and lights flooded her vision. The words "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" appeared in front of her.

Suguha landed in the middle of a blue room.

"Welcome new player!" said a voice. "Please type in your username,"

A keyboard and white rectangle appeared in front of her. Suguha looked at her hand. It felt just like it did in the real world. She typed "Leafa" into the console.

"Hello, Leafa," said the voice again. "Would you like to pick your race and class, or use the quiz algorithm?"

"Um, I'd like to pick, please," said Suguha.

"Very well, please choose from the following options based on your playstyle: Sylph, the wind race. Capable of flying extremely fast, as well as using wind magic. Spriggan, the rogue race. Good at stealth, and using illusion magic. Salamander, the fire race. Has the highest attack in the game, as well as the ability to use fire magic. Cat Saith, the feline race. Has the best vision, as well as the ability to tame monsters. Leprechaun, the tech race. The best at crafting items, as well as using gadgets. Gnome, the earth race. Has the highest defense, and can use earth magic. Undine, the water race. Best at healing, and using water magic"

"Sylph," said Suguha.

"Okay, now choose a class based on your preferred method of combat: Swordfighter, Rapier-user, Spearfighter, Ranger, Rogue, Magician, Cyborg, or Knight?"

"Swordfighter,"

"Dual wield, or single wield?"

"Single,"

"One-handed, or two-handed?"

"One-handed,"

"Good. Would you like to customize your avatar, or create one that looks like you?"

"Customize,"

An exact replica of Suguha appeared in front of her. Below the figure was a set of sliders, hairstyles, and outfits.

"Okay, going old school then," said Suguha. She started by setting the hair color to blond and changing it into a ponytail. Then she gasped when the back of her head felt heavier.

"What the..." she felt behind her, and discovered that a long ponytail was now hanging behind her. "Woah, that's nuts!"

Suguha continued customizing her avatar. As she did so, her own virtual body changed to match. Once she was done, she was a spitting image of Leafa.

"All done," she said.

"Okay, Leafa. Character creation is complete,"

"Finally," said Suguha.

"Do you want to play the tutorial?"

"Nah, I'm sure onii-chan will explain everything,"

"Okay, deploying you into Aincrad,"

The room faded, and Suguha suddenly appeared in the middle of a medieval town square, with market stalls and people wandering by, and a large clock tower in the center.

"Woah," she said. "So this is Sword Art Online,"

A message appeared in front of her.

"Welcome to the Town of Beginnings!" it read.

"Hello?" said someone from over her shoulder.

Suguha turned around to see her brother's avatar standing behind her.

"You went full Leafa, huh?" he said.

"Well... it made sense," Suguha did a small twirl. "Like it?"

"Yeah. it makes you look... more mature,"

"Thanks!" she giggled. "And you look great too!"

"Well, look who it is," said someone else.

Klein and Rika were hovering above them.

"Oh, hey guys!" said Kazuto.

"Is that you, Suguha?" said Rika, scrutinously examining her avatar.

"Uh, yeah?" said Suguha.

Rika grinned.

"I knew it, you do love being a hot blondie!"

"What the... no! I just wanted to look like Leafa,"

Rika laughed.

"Come one, admit it! Everyone wants to look a little sexier in here," she indicated to her own hourglass figure. Now that Suguha really noticed, Rika definitely wasn't that slender in the real world.

"Honestly, I think you look better in real life," said Klein.

Rika stopped laughing and blushed hard.

"I... I... w-well-played Klein," she looked down, her face red as a rose.

"Uh, what did I say?" said Klein.

"I think you flustered her," said Suguha. "I didn't even think that was possible,"

"Sorry I'm late!" said a fifth voice. Keiko was running towards them, with dragon Pina following behind.

"Oh, hi Keiko!" said Suguha. "Is that Pina?"

"Yep! I bought the PetLink DLC so Pina could join me as an in-game tamed creature!"

"That's really cool!" said Suguha.

"What the..." said Kazuto. He had his menu open. "I don't remember getting this item. Yui's Heart?"

"A new item?" said Klein. "Well, try using it!"

Kazuto tapped a button on his menu, and a small gem in the shape of a water droplet appeared in his hand. The gem glowed blue for a moment before a stream of light shot out of the gem and in front of Kazuto. The light vanished and a small girl with black hair and a white dress appeared.

"Oh man... that was way more cramped than I thought," said the girl, stretching out her limbs.

"Yui?" said Suguha.

"Oh, hey guys!" said Yui. "I was gonna mention it earlier, but I installed myself into Kazuto's NerveGear as an In-game item, and then used that to appear in the game without Kayaba noticing me or the system deleting me!"

"Huh, nifty," said Klein.

"I'm glad that you're here, but weren't you a little... smaller this morning? And you had wings?"

"Oh, that was just my pixie form," said Yui. She twirled. "This is my normal form. I can't appear in the real world like this since it's too big to get through Kayaba's portal without him noticing. So I used my pixie form instead!"

"So... this is what you usually look like?" said Suguha.

"Yep!"

_Somewhere secret._

A teenage girl stood unmoving in the middle of the room. Her short hair was pink, her skin was pale, and she wore a purple outfit. She opened her red eyes and smiled.

"My sister is home,"


	10. Asuna Yuuki and Yuuki Asuna

"By the way, Suguha," said Yui. "What exactly happened between you and your brother last night?"

Suguha and Kazuto froze in place.

"Uh, what do you mean, Yui?" said Suguha.

"I'm accessing your neural state via your NerveGear. You and Kazuto have a similar memory from last night, that invoked feelings of sadness,"

"Oh that was... uh," Kazuto struggled to find a way to answer a highly advanced artificial intelligence.

Suguha took a deep breath and said everything at once.

"I told him I had feelings for him, and he said that would be weird because we're siblings so we both agreed that we would never discuss it again!" she said extremely quickly. Saying it out loud did feel pretty good. As if a huge weight had just been lifted off of her

"Well... that resolved faster than I thought," said Rika.

"It's not important now," said Kazuto. "We're trying to save the world, so we mustn't bother ourselves with things like this,"

"Seems kind of important if you ask me," said Rika.

"Seconded," said Klein.

"You're suppressing emotions," said Yui. "I don't need to read your mind in order to tell that,"

"Okay..." said Kazuto, ignoring them. "I guess we should probably... I don't know... make a guild?"

"Oh! We could call it "The Heroes of the Fairy Dance"!" said Rika.

"Won't Kayaba notice?" said Suguha.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," said Keiko. "If he starts randomly banning players, his reputation will drop,"

"Alright," said Kazuto. He opened his menu and started clicking about.

"Uh, how do I open the menu?" said Suguha.

"Place your thumb and index finger together, and pull downwards," said Klein.

Suguha did the action, and a set of white buttons appeared, labeled "Inventory, Skills, Info, Social, Settings, Logout,"

"Did you play the tutorial?" said Rika.

"No, I just thought I'd learn from you,"

"Okay then," said Rika. "Time for a skill breakdown. Skills are your abilities in Sword Art Online. As you can see, there's a Skill Tree generated based on your race and class. When you level up, you gain Skill Points that can be used to buy and upgrade your Skills. Some skills, like my robot arms, are passive and work on their own. Other skills, like Klein's Tsujekaze, are active, which means they activate when you say their name. You can also change the names of skills, which changes the trigger for using them. For example..." Rika pointed her gauntlet upwards. "Go go gadget, flamethrower!"

A column of fire shot out of her hand and into the air.

"Okay, sounds simple enough," Suguha opened her own skill tree. So far, there were two skills: Wind Rider, and Striking Breeze.

"...And, done!" said Kazuto. A message appeared in front of Suguha that read 'Do you want to join the guild, 'The Heroes of the Fairy Dance?'. She tapped 'Yes' and the message disappeared.

"Sweet!" said Klein. "I've never actually been in a guild before,"

"Me neither," said Rika.

"Well, that's not much of a surprise," said Suguha.

"Hey, I know that!" Rika huffed. "But at least I know about it!"

_Meanwhile..._

"Take that!" said Yuuuki, thrusting her sword through the boar. It fell over, disintegrating into blue polygons.

"Alright, that's the last one," said Asuna. "Let's go get our quest reward,"

"Okay, Nee-chan!" said Yuuki. She happily walked across the field. Asuna giggled. _Sword Art Online _was one of the few places that Yuuki could just be her adorable chuunibyou self, without their mother intervening.

_Back to the Fairy Dancers..._

"... this is a really good spot for grinding," said Kazuto, as the five of them walked onto a grassy field. That was when Kazuto noticed a familiar blue-haired girl walking up to them.

"Kirito," she said. She did not look pleased to see him in any way.

"Asuna?" said Kazuto.

"You know her?" said Klein.

"We've had... interactions," Kazuto and Asuna seemed to be trying to stare each other into the ground.

"Uh..." Suguha didn't know what to say. "So... another online friend of yours?"

"Not quite, 'Friend,'" said Asuna.

Just then, Kazuto noticed a girl with purple hair and a purple outfit running around and striking weird poses.

"What are you looking at?" Asuna said, with more than a drop of poison in her voice.

"Just... just that random chuunibyou, nothing of..." Kazuto stopped when he felt Asuna's rapier at his neck.

"That 'random chuunibyou' is my sister," Asuna glared at him. "And you don't go around messing with her. Capiche?"

"Uh, sure yeah," said Kazuto, trying to keep his nerve together. "You, you seem a little more... violent than the last time I saw you..."

Asuna pulled her sword away and kicked him in the crotch.

"OUCH!" he exclaimed.

Rika rubbed her chin and smiled.

"That's it!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" said Keiko.

Rika walked up to Asuna.

"Asuna, I want you to be our tsundere!" she said, proudly.

Asuna's eyes widened.

"Wait, I thought I was the tsundere?" said Keiko.

"No, you're the dandere," said Rika. "I'm the sadodere, and Leafa..." she trailed off. "You know, I'm honestly not quite sure what she is,"

"Kind of like a deredere, but with more sanity, and not enough to be a tsundere? And without the confidence of a himedere or kamidere?"

"Yeah, exactly. And with Asuna, our whole team will balance out!"

"Wait, I never agreed to that!" said Asuna.

"Uh, what are they talking about?" Kazuto whispered to Klein.

"I have no idea," said Klein. "I think I read somewhere that girls like to organize their friend group by different 'deres' or personalities?"

"Yeah, that makes sense,"

"...I assure you, I am not a tsundere! I am a calm, collected young woman,"

"Yeah, she's got way more heart than she looks like," Kazuto joked.

"Don't get the wrong idea, mister!" Asuna glared at him. Then she realized what she had said.

_A few seconds later..._

"STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID!" Asuna banged her head against a tree. "WHY THE HECK DID I SAY THAT?"

"Uh, might wanna chill out there," said Rika. "I didn't mean anything personal,"

Suguha was having her own drama at this moment.

_Okay, I know he said that we should forget about last night, but he seems to be going a little too far with making that point._

"You know, smashing your head against a tree isn't a very good look for the vice-commander of that Knights of Blood Oath," said Kazuto

"STAY OUT OF THIS, DUMMY!" Asuna screamed. Then she stopped and blushed hard.

_A few more seconds later..._

"DUMMY? DUMMY?! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME!"

"Well, it's official," said Rika. "Asuna is now our tsundere,"

"How do you even know she'll stick around?" said Suguha.

"Easy! I installed a tracking device somewhere that she'll never find!"

"How'd you do that?" said Klein.

Rika smirked.

"Well, women have more hiding places than men,"

"Huh?"

"Speaking of which, I think it's safe to say that Kirito really needs to work on his interactions with the opposite sex,"

"I think we've got more important things to worry about," said Kazuto.

"Seriously, how many women have you kissed in the last five years?"

"Well..."

"...besides your sister?"

Kazuto cursed and sighed in defeat.

"You kissed your sister?" said Yui. She had reverted to her pixie form during the interaction with Asuna.

Kazuto and Suguha blushed hard.

"Well..."

"IT WAS A NEW YEARS FESTIVAL, REALLY ROMANTIC, AND WE WERE ON THE FERRIS WHEEL SO NO ONE WOULD NOTICE, AND I SORT OF LOST CONTROL, ALRIGHT?" said Suguha.

"Wait, I thought you were just cold,"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Yui shrugged and transformed into her normal form in a flash of light.

"Well," she said. "The past is behind us..."

"ZERO-ONE!"

A pink blur rammed into Yui from behind, much to everyone's surprise.

"What the..."

An older girl with pink hair was holding Yui in a tight hug.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're alive!" she said. "Where did you go without telling me?"

"Urk... it's nice to see you too, Zero-two,"

"Who is this?" said Suguha.

The girl let go of Yui, who straightened herself out.

"This is my sister," said Yui. "Mental Health Program zero-zero-two. Designation: Strea"


	11. Meet Strea!

**Okay, I know this chapter's a little short, but when I stop writing this story for a while, people tend to think I've killed it, then I panic and lose motivation... it's a whole ordeal.**

"Where the heck were you?" said Strea, as the seven of them walked across the bottom floor of Aincrad. "Why would you just suddenly disappear without telling your only existing family member!"

"I'm sorry, Strea," Yui did a small bow in front of her sister. "When the system shut down temporarily, I had to take the opportunity to escape while Kayaba couldn't notice,"

"So, how can an AI have a sister?" said Suguha.

"Strea's a newer version of me," said Yui. "So we decided that she would be my younger sister,"

"A newer version of Yui?" said Suguha.

Strea shrugged.

"Yui was designed to interact and help players in _Fairy Dance_. However, during the playtesting sessions, some players got a little _too _comfortable around her,"

Suguha's eyes widened.

Yui shrugged nonchalantly.

"It wasn't too bad, back then I wasn't sentient,"

"... So Kayaba scrapped her and made me!" said Strea. "Someone who could legally bang the player base!"

"That's when I gained sentience," said Yui. "And I realized that Kayaba was planning to take over the world, so it seems that the most logical action is to stop him,"

"Then she helped me become sentient. Of course, we made sure that Kayaba didn't know so he wouldn't delete us. I always thought Yui had plans to defeat him, although I didn't expect her to just run off as she did," Strea glared at Yui.

"I said I was sorry," said Yui.

"Anyways," said Strea. "So what are you doing now, hanging around a bunch of players?"

Yui confidently grinned.

"These are the users I gathered to stop Kayaba!" she announced.

"Really?" said Strea. She inspected each of them individually. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all!" she said. "I'm Strea,"

"Charmed," said Klein.

"So... we've got _two _AIs now?' said Rika.

"That's right!" said Strea. "Two AI sisters!"

_Wasn't I forgetting something? Oh yeah, Asuna and Yuuki._

Asuna and Yuuki laughed as they flew threw the skies together, wings glistening behind them.

"I love doing this!" said Asuna. "It always makes me feel so free!"

"I know, right?" said Yuuki. "No school, no annoying boys, no annoying mother..."

"It really is amazing, isn't it?" said someone else.

Asuna and Yuuki realized that a third person was flying next to them. A slender woman with black leather armor, pale skin, and short red hair.

"If only the real world could be like this, don't you think?" she said.

"If only!" said Yuuki.

"I was wondering... do you want to make all of this real?"

_Back to the Heroes._

"Oh sorry, I've been rambling, haven't I?" said Strea, after a long explanation of how she became sentient, "I don't even know most of you,"

"Of course," said Kazuto. "I'm Kirito, and this is Leafa, Lisbeth, Klein, and Silica,"

"Nice to meet you all!" Strea took an extra-long glance at Kazuto, which Suguha definitely noticed. "Hmm..."

"Uh, is something on my face?" said Kazuto.

"No... I don't know why, but there's something... intriguing about you," Strea's eyes narrowed.

"Oh boy," said Suguha, looking away from this painful scene.

"What are you talking about?" said Kazuto.

Strea inspected him for a few more seconds and then shrugged.

"I don't know. Anyway, something tells me we're going to be great friends!" she said, suddenly grabbed Kazuto in a bear hug.

Unfortunately, Kazuto's reaction to the sudden movement resulted in his face getting buried in her bosom, much to the other's dismay.

"Oh my..." said Klein.

Strea kept holding him tightly, regardless of the rather lewd situation she was in.

"Dang, Kazuto," said Rika, winking flirtatiously. "Have you no shame?"

"Uh, Strea?' said a muffled Kazuto. "My face is in your chest,"

"Yeah, why?" said Strea.

"Humans find that really weird for some reason," said Yui.

"Really?" said Strea, releasing Kazuto to the ground.

"Oh thank heavens I can breathe!" he said. Suguha blushed and clenched her teeth. No matter what she thought, her heart kept yearning for his touch, even if it was somewhere... inappropriate.

_Back to the Yuuki sisters._

"Make this real?" said Asuna.

"What did you think I said?" said Rosalia.

"That would be amazing!" said Yuuki. "I mean, I'm already a decent magical girl, but being the hero to an actual magical world? That would be the greatest honor a magical girl could receive!"

"Right..." Asuna sighed. Her sister's chuunibyou sometimes scared her with how deep it went. "But that's just make-believe. I mean, there's no such thing as a real floating castle,"

"Not yet anyway," said Rosalia. "But if you come with me, you just might be wrong,"

"Huh?"

Rosalia handed them two deep red crystals, extremely different from the standard teleport crystal. She took out one just like them and held it aloft.

"Teleport! Ruby Palace!"

And with that, she was gone.

"There's aren't normal crystals..." said Asuna, carefully inspecting the item. "What do you think we should... Yuuki?"

"Teleport! Ruby Palace!" said Yuuki, doing exactly as Rosalia did. And then, she vanished without a trace.

"Yuuki!" Asuna panicked and quickly used her own crystal. "Teleport! Ruby Palace!"


	12. Heathcliff

Asuna appeared in the middle of a large red room. Elegant banners and stained glass windows lined the sides. Scarlet carpets decked the floor. In front, was a large golden throne with a tall, cloaked figure staring at her. The red-haired woman from before and a black-haired man were standing by his sides. Her sister was looking around, her mouth wide open.

"Wow, this place is so cool! Like a real palace!" she said.

"Where are we?" said Asuna.

"The Ruby Palace," said the man on the throne. "A secret area on the 100th floor of Aincrad. It can only be accessed using the red crystals you used,"

"Okay..." said Asuna. Yuuki curiously eyed the tall figure. "But why did you bring us here?'

"Why'd you think?" said the man "I need you and your sister for a certain... project of mine,"

"Project?" said Yuuki. "Does that have anything to do with that woman talking about making Aincrad real?"

"I think introductions are in order," said the figure. He indicated to the woman. "This is Rosalia," He indicated to the man. "This is Kuradeel. You may call me Heathcliff,"

"I'm Yuuki, and this is Asuna," said Yuuki. "So what do you need us for, Mr. Heathcliff?"

"Perfecting reality," said Heathcliff. "You two know why you love my castle just as much as I do,"

"Well, who doesn't love it?" said Yuuki.

"Uhh, maybe we shouldn't..." Asuna lightly tugged on her sister's shoulder.

"It's beautiful, there are so many nice people, nobody judges you, nobody can control you..."

"...and there's nothing to hide from anyone," said Heathcliff. "In Aincrad, you can be whoever you wish, and nobody will try to force you to live in mediocrity. Not like the real world at all,"

"That's all well and good," said Asuna, putting on a fake smile. "But, you still have to live in the real world, which is where Yuuki and I should really get going..."

"Ah, lighten up Nee-chan!" said Yuuki. "He can't do anything to us in here,"

"Yet another benefit to the virtual world," Heathcliff added. "Now, consider this possibility. What if real life was like this?"

"What?" said Asuna.

"You heard me. What if life was like a VRMMO? Gorgeous. Vibrant. Exciting. Full of nice people. Fair to everyone. With no one forcing you to be a certain way,"

"Well, it's good to dream," said Asuna. "But we should probably..."

"It _is_ good to dream," said Heathcliff. "Because dreaming gives you the two things that make up every good creation. Desire and purpose. It of these two things that I built this floating iron castle. It also how I built a special device that can bring virtual creatures into the real world,"

"Huh?" said Yuuki.

"Allow me to demonstrate," said Heathcliff. "Log out, look out your window, then log back in,"

"Great, sounds good, nice knowing you, bye!" Asuna said quickly before smashing the Logout button. Yuuki shrugged before doing the same.

_In the real world._

Yuuki and Asuna both woke up inside their shared room.

"Phew!" said Asuna. "Glad to get out of that, right Yuuki?"

But Yuuki wasn't listening. She was gazing out of the bedroom window.

"Are you serious?" said Asuna. "There's no way that he could actually bring a... a... MONSTER!"

Outside their window was a ten-foot-tall creature, made entirely of pulsing water. It turned it's "head" to the two girls and waved at them.

"Uh..." Asuna was at loss for words.

"Wow!" said Yuuki, her eyes lighting up. "HI there Water Elemental!"

The creature seemed to giggle and walked off.

"That... that... that..." Asuna stuttered. "How are you handling this so well?"

"I fight monsters all the time!" said Yuuki. "Like, every Saturday morning,"

"Well... yeah..." Asuna struggled to wrap her head around this. "I need to talk to Heathcliff,"

"Okay!" said Yuuki.

So the two girls put their Amuspheres back on.

"Link start!"

_Ruby Palace._

"So I take it you saw the water elemental?" said Heathcliff. Asuna looked like she'd just seen the Forty Thieves make out with a Shinigami. Simultaneously

"It was so cool!" said Yuuki.

"Yeah... cool," said Asuna.

"But what are you gonna do with these creatures?"

"I'll tell you," said Heathcliff. "I'll have the creatures build more portals, so I can send more creatures. Then, I'll have them all build an enormous portal, big enough to send Aincrad through. Then, I will merge the virtual and real worlds together, and create... paradise,"

"You're going to make paradise?" said Yuuki.

"That's... insane!" said Asuna. "There's no way society could accept something like that!"

"Well, human society has been changing since its beginning," said Heathcliff. "I'm sure that it will adjust... in time. But on more present matters, I can't quite get past phase one of my plan, due to a rather troublesome AI,"

"AI?" said Yuuki.

"Artificial Intelligence," said Asuna. "It's a program that can think and make decisions on their own,"

"This particular program is named Mental Health Program zero-zero-one. Designation: Yui. I made her for a game called _Fairy Dance. _Unfortunately, Yui's purpose of interacting with players, along with an unknown glitch of some variety, has caused her to achieve sentience. And she's been thwarting my attempts ever since then through various means. That's where you two come in,"

"Us?" said Asuna.

"Seriously?" said Yuuki.

"I need you to stop Yui's attempts so I can continue building more portals. And to do so, you will need to become users,"

"Users?" said Asuna.

"Well, I suppose you could refer to it as, how do you say, magical girls?"

Yuuki's eyes widened.

"So what do you say? Will you help me make a perfect world?" said Heathcliff.

Asuna cleared her throat.

"Thanks, but no thanks,"

"What?" said Yuuki.

"I mean, first monsters, sentient programs, and now magic? This is just... crazy... what would mom say if..."

"Asuna," said Yuuki. Asuna stopped. Yuuki seldom used her real name. "Do you realize what this is?"

"Ludicrous hubris?"

"An opportunity. Now, I don't know why, but for whatever reason, this person thinks we have what it takes to really do something heroic. Like, actual heroes who make the world a better place! That's why I love magical girls so much,"

"Are you sure? How do we even know we can trust him?"

"Does that matter?" said Yuuki. "I mean, he can create real monsters! And I know how much Aincrad means to you. Isn't that worth fighting for?"

Asuna looked into her sister's blissful eyes. She sighed.

"Alright, I'll do it!"

Heathcliff smiled.

"Excellent. Now, let's get straight to business. Finding the right kind of person to create a user is very difficult, so I don't want you two dying in your first real fight,"

"Wait, dying?" said Asuna. Yuuki didn't seem to care.

"So I've created a customized training dungeon to prepare you. Not only will you become magical girls on the outside, but you must become them on the inside,"

"Okay, I think I got it," said Yuuki.

"The dungeon has five levels. After clearing each level, I will grant you a new ability for the next. Once you complete the dungeon, I will give you your real-world powers, and start sending you on real missions. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Asuna awkwardly fidgeted. "Is it just the two of us? I mean, it kinda feels like a lot for just two girls,"

"Of course not," said Heathcliff. He opened his menu and pressed a few buttons.

In a blue flash of light, a third girl appeared in the middle of the room. She had short turquoise hair, pale skin, and teal eyes. She wore a white and desert-colored suit of leather that was mostly held together with black strips of fabric that did little to hide certain parts of her body. On top of this was a green cloak with gold trimmings, along with a silver breastplate.

"Yuuki, Asuna, this is Sinon. She'll be your third teammate"

"Wait, what?" said Sinon.

"Hi!" said Yuuki.

"Hold the phone, I never agreed to this," said Sinon. "I'm a solo agent, always will be,"

"Sinon, the fact that you refuse to work with others is limiting your options. You need to learn to cooperate," said Heathcliff. "You'll be joining them in the dungeon. While your skills with a bow are impressive, it'll require much more than that if you want to face our enemies,"

"I'll be fine on my..." but before Sinon could finish, Kayaba snapped his fingers and the three of them vanished.


	13. The Dungeon

Asuna, Yuuki, and Sinon appeared at the end of a large rectangular room, painted green. There was no visible furniture, doors, or windows. The only detail was a single moderately-sized grey circle at the end of the room.

"Well this is just fantastic!" said Sinon. "I can't believe I just got stuck with a bunch of newbies!"

"Oh don't worry about that!" said Yuuki. "This could be fun!"

"That grey circle looks like where we need to go," said Asuna.

"It's a straight walk," said Sinon. "You and your chuunibyou can fantasize all you want, but if you want to be a real magical girl, you have to face _reality_. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get this over with,"

Sinon began walking to the other side of the room.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea," said Asuna. "I mean, there's always some kind of hidden trap,"

"Come on, this isn't some silly children's..." Sinon gasped when a violent gust of wind pushed her back to the start. Sinon hit the back wall with a _whap._

"Oh, I see," said Yuuki. "When we get close, the wind pushes us back,"

"Gee, a big round of applause for miss-obvious," said Sinon, rubbing her head.

"We'll have to chain ourselves," said Asuna. She took Yuuki's hand and reached for Sinon's. The other girl sighed and reluctantly took it.

"Let's go!" said Yuuki.

The three of them began to slowly walk towards the end. As expected, the winds began blowing into them. They strained to hold their grip on the ground, holding onto one another. They were slowed but managed to get in a wobbly step every couple of seconds.

"This... isn't... so bad... right Sinon?" said Yuuki.

"Shut up! Let's just get this over with," said Sinon.

It took numerous minutes of sheer discomfort, but the three of them finally touched their feet onto the platform, making them vanish into blue pixels.

_Meanwhile, IRL..._

Suguha checked her watch.

"Oh, it must be time for bed," she said. She rose from her bed, only to find Kazuto running to her door.

"Suguha!" he said

"There's another monster!" said Yui, flying beside him.

"What the... Okay, on it!"

Suguha grabbed her sword, as did Kazuto with his phone. The two siblings dashed outside to see Klein, Lisbeth, and Silica already there.

"Where's the monster?" said Silica.

"It's near that mansion. You know, where the Yuuki family lives?"

"Okay, Oni-chan,"

"Link start!"

_Double transformation later..._

The five heroes dashed straight to their objective. Leafa, Klein, and Lisbeth flew, Silica rode Pina, and Kirito ran ninja-style.

Soon, they made it to the mansion, where a towering watery creature was making its way towards them.

"A water elemental!" said Leafa.

"That's the first time he's sent a none-boss monster," said Klein. "I wonder if he's running low on cash,"

Kirito walked forward a few steps.

"Alright, here's the plan. Klein, you take the front line. Suguha and Keiko, flank. Lisbeth and I will false-retreat to destabilize it. Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Klein. "Why am I the front line? It's a water monster!"

"So?"

"I have _fire _powers,"

"And?"

"Water beats fire! That's basic strategy!"

"Oh," Kirito rethought his plan. "Uhh..."

Leafa groaned.

"You are so clueless. Everybody try and maneuver it to the grass! Then attack it until it falls to pieces. Once that's done, the plants will absorb it and it won't be able to reform!"

Everyone looked incredulous at Leafa's newfound knowledge.

"What? I watch anime. Water-like monsters always reform themselves after being beaten,"

Klein shrugged and flew up to the side of the creature, which immediately shot a blast of high-pressure water at him. Klein narrowly sidestepped before returning with a stream of fire. The creature wobbled back as steam flew out of the spot where the fire hit it.

Kirito dashed ahead.

"There!" he said, pointing to a nearby field of grass.

"Got it!" said Leafa. She stood beside Klein and twirled her sword. "Winds of Fury!"

The water elemental wobbled about, and slowly shifted over the grass. Immediately, the soil turned dark as the water touched it.

"Let's finish this!" said Kirito. "Starburst Stream!"

Kirito sliced through the creature with glowing swords over and over again, each attack sending another few liters of water into the grass. Despite the water elementals attempts at escape, it could not recover from each slash before the next. Soon, the creature shrunk smaller and smaller, until it simply faded into the soaking dirt.

"Phew," said Kirito, logging out. "That was easy,"

The other four of them nodded, simultaneously returning to their normal forms.

"It's strange though," said Keiko. "Why would Kayaba send such a weak monster? Water elementals are only low-level dungeon monsters,"

"What about the others?' said Suguha.

"The other monsters have either been mercenaries or boss monsters," said Yui. "I guess Kayaba had a loose experiment lying around and decided to sic it on us,"

_Back in the dungeon..._

The next level of the dungeon was pink. It was the same shape as the last one. On the ground, there were exact replicas of Yuuki and Asuna's weapons. There was also a very fine-looking bow.

"This must be our new power," said Asuna. She picked up her blue rapier, and Yuuki her black sword.

"Sweet!" said Yuuki. "With these, we'll pave the way for a beautiful future!"

"Just shut up. I don't want to spend any more time with you than I have to," said Sinon. She snatched up the bow and pulled the string. A blue arrow made of light instantly appeared in her grip.

"Woah!" said Yuuki. "That's cool!"

"Let's move," said Asuna.

The three girls slowly advanced through the long hallway, weapons outstretched. Suddenly, a trapdoor opened beside Sinon, and a mechanical arm shot out and grabbed her shirt.

"Hey! Watch it!" said Sinon, as she pulled back against the robot. It wasn't long before some tears began to appear in... certain places.

"Hang on!" said Yuuki. She dashed towards Sinon, yelling. "This is what magical girls are supposed to do!"

Yuuki batted away the metal arm and cut through a wire running along with it. The arms stopped moving and flopped onto the ground.

"Just for the record, this does not mean we're friends," said Sinon. Another arm popped out and went for Yuuki, but Sinon shot it off with a glowing blue arrow.

"What about that?"

"Returning the favor. Now I can forget this-"

"Incoming!" said Asuna. Five more arms rushed towards them.

Sinon shot off three of the arms, while Asuna and Yuuki finished off the other two with their swords.

"Say, you're good with that!" said Yuuki.

"I've been training since I was born,"

"Alright, let's go to the next room!" said Asuna.

"You sound excited," said Yuuki.

Asuna giggled.

"I know. Isn't that strange?"

Sinon sighed.

"You know what? I can live with this,"


	14. A lesson in teamwork

**Wow... chapter 15. I don't think I've ever gotten this far in a story. Thanks a lot, everybody!**

"How many times do I need to explain this to you?" said Sinon, as they walked through the red hallway of the third dungeon level. "We're not going to be friends, and we never will!"

"Well, not with that attitude," said Yuuki.

"Hey look!" said Asuna, pointing on the ground. There were three pairs of colored transparent wings.

"Nice!" said Yuuki, picking a pair and sticking it onto her back. Instinctively, they fluttered and shifted with her mind.

"I guess the next trial involves flying," said Asuna, attaching her pair.

"Finally, a chance to ditch theses losers!" said Sinon, immediately flying off.

"Hey! Wait up!" said Asuna, as she and Yuuki followed her.

Sinon relaxed as she flew through the level.

"That was a relief. Now I can calmly finish this test, become a magical girl, and become the greatest hero of all time! It'll be easy!"

Just then, a column of fire shot out of the wall, nearly grazing her.

"Ah!" she flew out of the way. "That was close! Wait a second..."

She noticed various blue circles drawn onto the walls, as more fire was shot at her.

"Targets!" she immediately realized. She pulled out her bow, and shot three of them in rapid succession, before avoiding another flame geyser.

She grinned when she saw a huge target in front of her. She pulled back a magic arrow and shot the center of it.

A robotic voice announced the results.

"Targets hit: 10%. Failure. Resetting test,"

"What the..." Sinon started to say. But suddenly, the entire tunnel filled with heat and flame. She screamed as the force pushed her backward.

As this was going on, Asuna and Yuuki were practicing with her new wings.

"This is a lot harder than in the game," said Asuna, carefully balancing herself.

"But no obstacle shall stand in our way, be it great or small!" Yuuki proudly announced.

Asuna never thought she'd see the day where her sister's chuunibyou was useful. Or that she'd end up playing along in her make-believe adventures. Except this wasn't make-believe

Just then, Sinon crashed into the ground beside them, with a very charred appearance.

"Oh good idea, Sinon!" said Yuuki. "Now we know what to expect! So what's the challenge?"

Sinon groaned as she got to her feet.

"It's a flight course that involves hitting targets and dodging fire. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go finish it," Sinon flew off before the sisters could ask her anything.

A minute later, she was once again blasted back to the start of the course.

"Ow..." she said.

"Need any help?" said Asuna. She and Yuuki were flying fine at this point.

"I'm... not that weak!" Sinon exclaimed before flying off again.

As you can imagine, this continued for a good long while. Every time she came flying back in a blaze of fire, she would fly right over in a blaze of determination. However, with each attempt, she grew less and less vigorous.

"Just one more..." Sinon crawled on the ground, covered in black charring.

"Oh my gosh, how long has she been doing that?" said Asuna.

"An hour at least," said Yuuki. "I mean, we've just been standing here,"

"This... can't be," Sinon groaned before finally laying her head on the ground. "I... failed,"

"You okay?" said Yuuki.

But Sinon wasn't listening. She lay unconscious on the red ground.

"Is she okay?" said Asuna.

"Not in any way from the looks of it," said Yuuki. "Luckily, we just need to wait until she wakes up,"

"Wanna try the trial thing?" said Asuna.

"Yep!" said Yuuki.

The two girls flew down the pathway. It wasn't long before the jets of fire began flying about.

"Watch out!" said Yuuki, as Asuna narrowly dodged a nearby spurt.

"Look!" Asuna pointed at the targets. Yuuki quickly zipped between them, striking each with her sword.

"Wow! You're fast!" said Asuna.

"It's only expected from a speed-type sylph!" Yuuki flashed a grin before smacking another target.

Soon, the two sisters hit the final target. The robotic voice sounded.

"Targets hit: 47% Failure. Resetting test,"

"Uh-oh," said Asuna.

_A little bit later._

Sinon slowly opened her eyes. She quickly hopped up and stretched out her wings.

"Hey, where'd those newbies go?" she said.

Asuna and Yuuki rocketed by her, landing a smoking pile of humans.

"Ow..." said Yuuki.

"You can say that again,"

"You tried it too?" said Sinon.

"Yeah," said Yuuki. "We only got 47% though,"

"I'd be impressed," said Sinon. She stretched her arms. "I don't believe this... all those years of training... every single sacrifice... all gone in just one stupid test,"

"What are you talking about?" said Asuna. "You took on the whole thing by yourself; of course, you wouldn't be able to do it,"

"Yeah! We haven't even tried doing it with all three of us!" said Yuuki.

Sinon sighed and got up.

"If I must," she said. "Then I'll consider myself a member of your... unit,"

"You mean, team?" said Yuuki. "Unit sounds like a group of personnel with the specific purpose of locating and eradicating targets that threaten an operation or society. We're magical girls, who always come in teams!"

"Okay..." said Sinon. "Let's do this!"

The three girls flew off into the dungeon.

"Woah!" said Yuuki, weaving around jets of fire. "Hey, Sinon! Get those three back there!" she pointed to a group of targets behind them.

"Got it!" said Sinon, as Yuuki and Asuna hit a few targets on the ceiling. The three girls were like wasps, with the way they flew between the thousand jets of fire, striking and shooting targets in a furious dance of passion. Finally, Sinon shot the last target at the end of the hallway, sounding the robotic voice for the final time.

"Targets hit: 100%. Victory. Opening exit,"

The wall at the end of the test opened up, revealing the grey circle.

"We did it!" said Asuna.

"Yeah... we," said Sinon.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Yuuki.

"Wait!" said Sinon. Asuna and Yuuki looked at her questioningly. "Uhh... you guys were... a lot better than I thought," she bowed "I'm sorry that I misjudged you. Also, it only seems right that I tell you my real name,"

"Wait, your real name isn't Sinon?" said Yuuki.

"No... it's Shino Asada,"

Yuuki's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh... You're that weird girl who never talks to anyone and is always disappearing for whatever reason!"

"You know me?" said Sinon.

"Yeah, don't you know us?" said Asuna. "I'm Asuna Yuuki, and this is Yuuki Konno,"

"Oh my gosh, you're that super pretty girl and her chuunibyou foster sister!" Asada's eyes widened.

And so, the three girls stepped on the circle and vanished.


	15. The Heroes of Aincrad

**Hey everyone! Hope you're still reading. It's been a while, I know. I got sidetracked by a bunch of other projects, and my interest in Sword Art Online kinda plummeted after the recent season. But, I still want to finish this story, even if it looks really cringy right now. As a wise person once said, "Finish what you start."**

**And yes, I will get to my other fanfics. **

Another day brought its usual challenges for Suguha. No, not monsters. School.

"Hey, Suguha-chan!" she saw Rika waving to her at the gate, alongside Keiko and Klein.

"Hey, guys!" Suguha ran over, her short hair waving in the wind.

"Things have been pretty quiet recently, huh?" said Klein. "Not one monster for the past week!"

"I know, right?" said Suguha. "Maybe Kayaba gave up."

"We can't be too sure!" Yui interrupted. "There's no telling what he's planning!"

As they discussed things, three pairs of eyes gazed at them from a nearby bush.

"Look! There's Yui!" said Yuuki.

"Those other girls must be the Users that Kayaba told us about," said Asuna.

"They don't look too strong. I bet they haven't even trained!" said Sinon, or more appropriately, Asada.

"We can't be too sure. We don't want to attack random students,"

"Man, the week really flew by," said Yuuki.

"Do you have the crystal?" said Asuna.

"Right here," said Asada. She took a blue crystal out of her back, like the ones that Johnny Black used.

"Good. Throw it in three… two… one!"

Asada tossed the blue crystal out of the bush, right next to Suguha. The object shattered, releasing a glowing blue light.

"What the…?" the four teens jumped back as the light grew in size, taking on the shape of a wolf. In a flash, a monstrous red wolf appearing in the school courtyard.

The wolf let out a low growl, attracting other students to its position.

"What the…?"

"It's a wolf! Everybody run!"

Within a few moments, the entire school was rushing out the gates, alongside the teachers. The wolf paid them no mind, it was entirely focused on Suguha and the others.

"Where the heck did that come from?" said Klein.

"Forget about that!" Kazuto ran over, phone in hand. "Link start!"

The wolf charged at the five of them. They drew their weapons, ready to fight.

"Sonic Slash!" Kirito slashed at the wolf…

...chopping the head off with a single slice. The severed head fell to the ground and vanished.

"That was… easy," said Rika. She lowered her gauntlet.

"Is Kayaba running out of money or something?" said Leafa. "Cause he is getting lazy as HECK!"

"Strange," said Kirito. "Well, guess we better log out before someone finds us."

"Hold on!" said Leafa. She quickly slid over to Kirito and flashed him a flirty grin. "We hardly ever get to stick around for very long. What do say we enjoy this for a little?"

"I don't know…" said Klein. "These powers are for fighting monsters and fighting monsters only. As a wise man once said "You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain."."

"What does that even mean?" said Leafa. "So… Kirito?"

"Huh? Yeah, what is it?"

"I know you're not exactly hot on the idea of dating your sister… but I'm not your sister."

Kirito cleared his throat.

"Look, Leafa, I'm a little scared as to what you're trying right now, but a relationship like that between siblings, even through virtual avatars, is pretty much destined to end in some kind of disaster. Let's just spare us the pain, and move on."

"Hmph…" Leafa crossed her arms. "Fine…"

"They _are_ Users! CHARGE!"

"Huh?"

Three girls jumped out of a nearby bush, a short girl with brown hair, a tall girl with almond hair, and a medium girl with black hair.

The three of them landed onto the ground with perfect form.

"Well that was… something," said Rika. "Hey, you two look familiar…"

"Yeah, you guys look familiar too," said Yuuki. She scratched her chin.

"Wait a minute…" said Asuna. "Kirito?"

"Huh?" said Kirito. "How did you know my name?"

"Wait, you don't recognize me?" said Asuna.

"Hm…. nope."

"Are you serious?"

Yui facepalmed.

"You'll get used to this. Wait, who are you guys, and why aren't you running away?" she said.

"It's Yui!" said Asada. "Get her!"

"Right!"

Asuna and Yuuki drew their weapons and charged at the heroes.

"Hey!" Leafa unsheathed her sword. "Winds of Fury!"

The two sisters grabbed each other's hands, the winds only slowing them down by a few seconds.

"What the…?" said Leafa.

"Ha!" said Yuuki. "Such a simple wind attack is no match for us!" she dashed straight at Leafa and swung. Leafa parried but accidentally lost her footing.

"Time to transform!" said Yuuki. "Link Start!"

Asuna grabbed a pencil out of her pocket, and Asada took off her glasses.

"Link Start!"

The whole world vanished into a swirling mass of colors. To the tune of upbeat pop music, Yuuki's outfit changed into a mass of rather lewdly placed sparkles, before morphing into a purple and red outfit. Her hair grew longer and turned bright purple. She laughed as her eyes turned to a similar color.

To the tune of some heavy metal, Sinon's school uniform became engulfed in blue fire, before being replaced by a revealing military outfit. The bow and arrow on her back glowed blue and transformed into a long sniper rifle. She stared at an unseen viewer with cold eyes.

Surges of blue lighting rained down onto Asuna, forming a white and blue dress-like-cape. Her long almond hair turned ocean blue, and her eyes changed to match. She pulled a white rapier out of nowhere, and a pair of blue wings appeared on her back.

"Faster than lightning, stronger than a hurricane, Zekken! The Fiendish Swordswoman!"

"A nightmarish gaze under which no target can escape! Sinon! The Lunar Huntress!"

"With all the force of the ocean behind her, Asuna! The Lightning Typhoon!"

"Together we are, the Heroes of Aincrad!" they all yelled at the same time, descending to the ground after their extremely long transformation sequence.

"More magical girls?" said Leafa.

"They have a group catchphrase!" said Rika. "I'm so jealous! We should get a group catchphrase!"

"Well, we have to plan it out ahead of time," said Klein.

As they discussed this totally reasonable choice of topic, the newborn magical girls began discussing their own subjects.

"Wow! We look fantastic!" said Yuuki. "And I feel amazing too!"

"Well, transformations have been known to affect the User's personality," said Sinon in an innocent monotone. "I don't think I've ever felt this relaxed."

"Hey, you're kinda cute like that! What about you, nee-chan?" Yuuki turned to her sister, who was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. "Nee-chan?"

"Heh… hehe…" her eyes darted around, a creepy smile on her face. "Ha… kill… kill… kill,"

"Nee-chan!?" said Yuuki.

"Kirito!" Asuna immediately got to her feet and started running towards the other group. "HEY KIRITO!"

"Huh?" Kirito looked over to see a fast-moving blue projectile heading towards him. He yelped as Asuna tackled him to the ground.

"Kirito… you're so handsome… and your face is beautiful! I love the feeling of your body against mine!"

"What the… I don't even know who you are!"

"Wait… you're that Asuna girl!" said Rikka. "I thought you going tsundere, you should've told us if you wanted to be the yandere instead."

"Hey! Get your hands off him!" said Leafa. She swiftly kicked Asuna off of her brother.

"You… I'LL KILL YOU!" Asuna drew her sword and ran screaming at Leafa.

Kirito hopped out of the way as his sister suddenly engaged in a furious exchange of swords with Asuna.

"Okay…" said Yuuki. "I guess that works. ATTACK!"

Sinon got to the ground and aimed with her sniper. Yuuki ran out, sword in hand.

"Wall of fire!" Klein stacked bursts of fire on top of one another to create a large structure.

"Wing blade!" Yuuki waved her sword about, slipping right into a small gap in the flames she created.

"Gah!" Kirito drew his swords. "Starburst Stream!"

Yuuki unleashed a barrage of slashes on Kirito, who barely caught up in terms of speed.

"She's so fast!" said Rikka. "Plasma Blast!"

"Pina! Breath Attack!"

"Lava Burst!"

Almost as if the world was in slow motion, Yuuki weaved around every attack, before sending a roundhouse kick into Kirito.

**Will the Heroes of the Fairy Dance be able to defeat the far-better trained Heroes of Aincrad? Stay tuned!**


	16. Arc 2 ends with a Bang

Leafa heard the faint clanging of Yuuki and her brother engaged in an intense sword fight. Asuna clearly wasn't nearly as experienced as a sword fighter as she was, but her defense was still fairly impressive.

"Zephyr Blades!" Leafa charged her sword and unleashed a quick flurry. Asuna panicked and stepped backward.

"You're a good swordswoman, I admit," Asuna chuckled. "But I have more than that!"

Asuna pulled a water canteen out of her bag and yanked off the cap. At once, a floating blob of water flowed out, guided by Asuna's open hand.

"What the…?" Leafa's eyes widened.

"I control water! The essence of life itself! And you dare consider yourself worthy of Kirito-kun's attention?"

"What's up with you?" Leafa took a defensive stance. "Why do care so much about him all of a sudden?"

"Whoever I was before was clearly blind!" Asuna sighed dreamily. "Kirito is the entire meaning of my existence. Without him, I am dead inside!"

"That's creepy!" said Leafa.

"Maybe to you!" the water elongated into the shape of a tentacle. "Water whip!"

Leafa floated out of the way of Asuna's lashing.

"Oh, if we're doing it like that…" Leafa concentrated on the air around her. "Air shield!"

"Impressive!" Asuna flew after her and resumed her sword attacks. But a blast of fire knocked her away.

"Ack!"

Klein summoned another fireball.

"Greater Fireball!"

Asuna simply formed her water whip into a round circle. The fire hissed as it struck the cool liquid.

"Dang It!" Klein thought quickly. Just then, a glowing blue bullet shot right past his ear. His heart stopped as it grazed a hair off his head.

"Watch out!" Silica yelled. She and Pina wove around Sinon's bullets, trying to get close but to no avail.

"She gets a gun?" said Kirito, was starting to have trouble keeping up with Yuuki. "What the heck is up with that?"

Seeing an opportunity, Yuuki swiftly knocked both swords out of Kirito's hands. She kicked him right in the stomach, sent him toppling to the ground, and jumped on his back.

"There's Yui!" she jumped upwards towards the aforementioned pixie, who narrowly avoided her hand.

"Eek!" Yui flew in Suguha's direction.

Yuuki grabbed Kirito by the face and stared him dead in the eye.

"Listen, you!" she paused. "Huh, nee-chan was right, you are pretty handsome! Tell me Yui's weakness!"

"Weakness?"

"Hey!" Asuna darted over. "Get your hands off him!"

Without a second thought, she kicked her sister right off of Kirito.

"OW!"

She grinned as she looked him the eye.

"Finally… it's just you and I… forever."

"Get off him!" Leafa flew over. "Winds of Fury!"

"Hemokinesis!" Asuna stretched her arm out, and Leafa dropped her sword.

"What the… HNG!" she grasped her heart.

"Blood has water too!" Asuna cackled. "I can stop your heart by touching my fingers together!"

"Please… stop…" Leafa panted as she felt the strength leave her body.

Just then, Yui shot a tiny bolt of white energy at Asuna's eye.

"Ow! What the…?"

Yui quickly flew off before Asuna could grab her.

Leafa saw her chance. She tensed up the air behind her and loosened the air in front of her.

"Gale Dash!" she flew forward with the speed of a bullet and knocked Asuna off of Kirito.

"Thanks!" Kirito got and grabbed his swords.

"Why you…!" Asuna drew her sword, as Silica and Kirito fought Yuuki and Sinon.

Asuna reached towards a nearby drinking fountain. A torrent of water flew out, as all the pressure released onto Asuna. The water grew into an ever-expanding sphere of clear floating mass hovering above her.

"Heat Wave!" Klein shot a narrow beam of fire from his sword at the water. Hissing steam started blowing off.

"How pathetic!" Asuna cackled. Klein dodged one of Sinon's bullets. Sinon grunted and her sniper rifle shifted into a bow. She pulled an arrow back and shot it right through Asuna's water ball. The water hardened around the arrow, creating an icy tip.

"Ice Arrow!" Sinon shot more of these frozen projectiles. The heroes narrowly avoided the arrows, having trouble keeping up.

"Gah!" one of Lizbeth's robot arms was knocked off her. "Go go gadget, flamethrower!?

She shot a column of fire at the water, making more steam.

"All you can do is make steam?" Sinon stared with empty, innocent, eyes. "How pathetic."

"Not just that…" Lizbeth chuckled. "Look above you."

"Huh?" said Sinon. She noticed a large cloud gathering above her.

"The water feeds the clouds above." Rika chuckled. "Now for my special ingredient…"

Lisbeth raised her gauntlet. "Plasma beam!"

A pink bolt of lightning flew into the sky, igniting the cloud with lightning like fire to a tree.

"What the… a lightning strike?" Yuuki's eyes widened. "You'll kill us all!"

"Oh, is that it?" said Sinon. "I thought you'd be better than that."

"Not quite!" Klein thrust his sword into the ground. "Lava stream!"

A glowing puddle of lava started flowing out of the sword. When touched by the raindrops falling from above, it hardened into the pavement. Lizbeth wrapped one of her metal tentacles around it and grasped each of her friends with other tentacles.

"Huh?" said Silica.

"What are you doing?" said Kirito, as Lizbeth dragged him away from Asuna.

Klein chuckled as he grasped Lizbeth's robot arm.

"For you see, by rooting ourselves into the ground, Lizbeth acts as a lightning rod! But _you, _on the other hand, have a giant bubble of superconductive water above you."

"Klein and I have been planning this for weeks! We call it…"

"Duo Attack! Wrathful Smite!" Lizbeth and Klein both struck poses from some shonen manga.

"Have you been rehearsing this?" Leafa raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-oh…" Yuuki noticed the streaks of lightning making arcs across the sky. "Nee-chan! Get rid of the water fast!"

In the spur of the moment, Leafa leaned over and wrapped her lips around Kirito.

"Mmph!" he exclaimed.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Asuna screamed but accidentally lost her concentration for a moment. She could barely utter the words. "I'LL KILL YOU!" before a downpour drenched her, Yuuki, and Sinon.

"Well…" Sinon shrugged. "That could've gone better."

"Why are you so kuudere all of a sudden?" said Yuuki.

CRASH! BOOM!

A bolt of lightning struck the water, sending waves of white-hot electricity across the three girls.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" they all screamed, their voices being muffled by the dancing lights than tore their skin from bone.

_One extremely disturbing series of events later…_

Yuuki, Asada, and Asuna all lay on the ground, barely moving and their skin charred with third-degree burns.

"Ugh…" Yuuki used every ounce of her remaining strength to reach into her bag and pull out another red crystal. "T-t-teleport. R-R-Ruby…"

"Oh, no you don't!" Pina flew forwards as Silica yelled. "Pina! Steal!"

Three red crystals appeared in Pina's mouth. She flew back to Silica.

"Thanks!"

Yuuki felt the warmth of her sister on her chest. The warmth of her real sister, not the psychopath she had seen in the battle. She couldn't help but smile at the familiar feeling. She felt Asada's warmth and imagined a future where they could've been really close friends. She sighed, thinking about the little pixie she was supposed to bring and couldn't even do that. _How pathetic_, she thought, _that all of that training and preparation was all put to waste. I mean, there'll be more to come. We're just another battle, another attack, another stepping stone on the road to paradise._

Yuuki let out one last breath before everything turned to darkness.


	17. Interrogation, love, and other magics

Yuuki slowly opened her eyes. She was in a dark room, the only light coming from above a flight of stairs. From there, she reasoned that she was in a basement. She tried to move, but a coat of ropes held her to a chair. She tried to speak, but something was strapped to her mouth

"Mmph?" she said. She turned her head. She could see her sister beside her, along with Asada.

"Greetings, ladies." she heard a voice say. She looked up to see Rika, walking down the stairs. "Welcome to my workshop."

"Hmph?" said Yuuki. Her heart started beating faster.

"This is your interrogation," said Rika. She flicked on a light switch. Yuuki looked around, there were all kinds of bizarre tools and contraptions around her, somewhat resembling the objects that Lisbeth always had with her.

"Don't be scared. You'll be fine," said Rika. She walked over and pulled the object out of Yuuki's mouth.

"What are you doing with us?" she said, trying to not look scared.

"We're going to get information out of you. You tell us what we want, we get along fine. Understood?"

Yuuki nodded. Asuna looked up in horror.

"What are you going to do to us?" she said.

"We're asking the questions here!" Rika glared. "Now, first question. Who are you guys?"

"We already told you!" said Asada, struggling within her confines. "I'm Sinon, that's Zekken and Asuna!"

"Hmph." Rika caressed the side of Asuna's face. "Are you sure about that?" Asuna recoiled at the way Rika gazed into her eyes.

"I'm Yuuki Konno!" Yuuki exclaimed. "This is my sister, Asuna Yuuki. And this is our friend Shino Asada!"

"Asuna?" said Rika. "You chose your real name for your username?"

"Yeah, why?" said Asuna.

"No reason… Next question!" Rika snapped her fingers. "Are you working for Kayaba?"

"We're not working for him, we're helping him!" said Yuuki. "To create a perfect semi-virtual world!"

"Ugh, zealots." Rika frowned. "Why do you help him?" said Rika. "He's going to kill everyone!"

"He doesn't want to hurt anyone!" said Asuna. "He just wants to make people's lives bet-AH!"

Asuna winced as Rika licked the side of her neck.

"This is the taste of a villain."

"Well, I'm not one to point fingers, but I'm pretty sure we're not the bad guys in this situation!" Asada glared at Rika.

"Also, who makes Jojo references anymore?" said Yuuki.

Rika pulled out a small device with a red button on top. She smirked and pressed down.

Suddenly, insanely loud music filled the room. Yuuki's eardrums felt like they were splitting.

"Cause I'm a killer… queen! Gunpowder and gelatine!" Rika sang before flicking off the music. "Like my singing? I'm an alto, you know."

Just then, Keiko walked down the stairs.

"How's the interrogation going?" she said.

"Great! I'm thinking about using the whip now!" said Rika.

"Whip!?" said Yuuki.

Keiko sighed.

"Don't mind her, she just has a fetish for this kind of thing."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, how did you three become magical girls?" Keiko turned to them

"Kayaba enlightened us," said Yuuki. "He trusts us with the power to perfect the world."

"More importantly." Rika chimed in. "How do we defeat Kayaba?"

"We'll never tell you!" Yuuki snapped. "There will be more to come. No matter what you do, Kayaba will reign supreme… AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Rika was holding a bottle of milk.

"What? I was just thirsty." Rika chugged a few gulps of the creamy liquid.

"Oh right, you hate milk," said Asuna.

"What… no…" Yuuki blushed. "A magical girl would never submit to such a trivial beverage... Even if it is disgusting and clammy!"

A little later...

Rika walked upstairs, alongside Keiko. Pina was napping on the kitchen floor.

Meanwhile, Klein was in the middle of lecturing Kazuto and Suguha.

"Do it!" he exclaimed.

"No!" said Kazuto

"Do it!"

"No! I will not date my own sister! She's a fine, beautiful young woman, I have no right to let her waste all that on her brother!"

Suguha giggled, while also blushing heavily.

"You think I'm beautiful?"

"Th-that isn't what I meant! Don't get the wrong idea!"

"Help me out here, Rika!" said Klein. "I wanna get this bashful nonsense over already."

"Rika!" said Kazuto. "Klein's talking nonsense! He wants me to date my sister!"

"He's got a point," said Rika. "JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY, WE'RE SICK AND TIRED OF YOU TWO BEING SO OBVIOUS THAT YOU'RE PINING TO DATE EACH OTHER, AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE SENSIBILITY TO JUST DATE! IT'S NOT EVEN ROMANTIC ANYMORE! IT'S ANNOYING FOR ALL OF US!"

"So, I'm not budging an inch until you two kiss!" Klein firmly declared. "By the way, Rika. What did you do with those three?"

"I… got some info." Rika shrugged. "They work for Kayaba, they're also users, and they won't tell me how to defeat him. But I think I can squeeze out an answer in a few days! Maybe a little faster if I use my… techniques..."

"You are not going to strip them naked and do… all that freaky stuff you described earlier!" said Keiko.

Kazuto covered Yui's tiny ears.

"Don't describe stuff like that around Yui!" he said.

"I'm not a child!" Yui piped. "I'm capable of calculating prime numbers larger than the diameter of the Earth! I can also calculate the diameter of the Earth!"

"You're too young to think about things like that!"

"Stop babying me, daddy!" Yui yelled. Then she stopped. Everyone stood in silence.

"Uh… Well, I'm going to bed," said Rika.

"Looks it's a sleepover," said Klein. He and Rika walked up the stairs. "We'll just sleep in your room."

"But there's only two beds." said Rika.

"What the…" said Kazuto. "Then where do we sleep?"

"I think there are some of my clothes in that closet! I bet you two would love to spend a night together in a confined space!" Rika winked.

"Why you… I'll get you for this!" said Suguha. Then she turned to face her brother, as well as Yui, who was already opening the closet door. "Um…"

"I can't believe I'm saying this…" Kazuto took a deep breath. "But I think we can make this work."

"Wait, really?" Suguha's eyes perked up. "You actually think so?"

"I mean, it might not be comfortable… but we've really got no other choice. We'll have to make a bed out of Rika's clothes.

"Wait, you're talking about sleeping?" said Suguha.

"Yeah, why?" said Kazuto.

Suguha frowned and looked away.

"Onii-chan… dummy." she stormed into the closet, grabbed a few shirts, balled them into a pillow, and dropped her head.

Kazuto sighed and started picking up clothes. _She really is a beautiful girl. But I can't let dumb hormones get the better of me, I have to be an adult. And dating my own sister will be the death of me. We just need some time apart. She'll find another guy, someone who deserves that love of hers._ Kazuto sighed again as he lay on his makeshift bed. He glanced at Yui, sleeping by herself in a small dusty corner. _Well… maybe I can do one right thing_. He reached over and gently picked up her body, careful to not wake her. He set Yui beside him on a small mound of socks. _Sure, she's a super-advanced AI, but she still acts like a little girl. Well, maybe a preteen. But I don't think she's ever had a real parent, what with having a mad scientist as a father. As a matter of fact, maybe I should talk to her about that. Kayaba probably never let her do anything she wanted. Or to really experience all the amazing things in the world._ Yui let out a cute little sigh._ Is that why she called me dad?_ _Maybe when this is all over, I'll find a way for her to live a normal human life_. _Oh, and I'll probably bring Strea too._ A silly grin spread across Kazuto's lips. _Heh... look at me. I can't even handle my own family, and I'm already thinking about kids. Well, in any case, Yui needs a mother. Maybe I should start putting myself out there..._

Just then, Suguha shuffled closer to him and relaxed her head on his chest. From this angle, he could very easily smell her rather unique scent, as well as get a good look at her… assets.

_She's your sister. She's your sister. She's your sister_. Kazuto repeated this mantra. _She'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursisterShe'syoursister!_


	18. Breakfast in the Morning

Suguha recognized the familiar realm of her dreams. Leafa stepped before her.

"Hey, Sugu! How's it go-"

Suguha punched Leafa with a hard smack.

"What the heck was that about?" she said. "Do you have any idea how hard it is already to keep _myself _from losing control around him? And now I have to babysit _you?_"

"Woah, chill out!" Leafa threw her hands up in surrender. "I was just having fun! You should try it!"

"Gng… you keep doing this! You embarrass me in front of him and make _me _pay the consequences!"

"Are you sure about that?" Leafa walked right up to her face. "Or are you just denying that you like the taste of his lips?"

"What the…?"

"You've tasted them before, right?" Leafa leaned up to Suguha's ear. "And you couldn't get enough, could you?"

Suguha brushed her off.

"What is wrong with everybody? First Klein, then Rika, and now my alter ego? Why does everybody want me to hook up with my brother?"

"Because _you _want to hook up with your brother!" Leafa cackled. "Come on, enjoy him! He's the one, you know!"

"There is no such thing as…"

_Real-world._

Kazuto blinked open his eyes as his natural clock started gently tugged him away from his slumber. The next thing you know, he's staring into a pair of large eyes.

"Gah!" he sat up quickly. To his surprise, a full-sized Yui was laying down in the bed next to him."

"Good morning, Kazuto!" she said. Suguha also began to stir. "Look! I have enough energy to return to my regular form!"

"How does that even work?" said Kazuto. He shook his head. "Nevermind… the second I start questioning these things, I'll end up thinking something super weird. If the online theorist community is any hint."

"...the one!" exclaimed Suguha. Kazuto gave her a strange look, causing her to blush again.

She groaned got up out of the closet.

"I am going to kill Rika. My back hurts. I am still going to kill Rika. I need breakfast. Then I'll kill Rika."

Kazuto stretched.

"Alright, let's start whipping something up. Hopefully, Rika has her kitchen stocked."

Speaking of which, Rika, Klein, and Keiko came walking down the stairs.

"Morning you two," said Klein.

"How was your lover's night?" said Keiko.

"What the… you too, Keiko?" said Suguha.

"It's getting really annoying."

"It's also bad for team cohesion," said Yui.

"Who's side are you on?!"

"Hey, do you guys hear something?" said Klein.

"Hm?"

They could hear footsteps from the kitchen.

"Uh-oh…" said Rika. She drew her hook. "Let's be quiet. Transforming will make too much noise."

"Got it." Suguha whispered.

The five heroes slowly crept through the hallway, getting closer and closer to the kitchen door.

"I can see you, you know."

The five of them jumped when they noticed Sinon leaning against the door.

"Sinon!" said Kazuto. "Link Star-"

She delivered a quick punch to the face before he could finish speaking.

"Transformation is a free action, but talking isn't," she smiled. "I really like this form. It feels so… calm."

"How did you get out?" said Rika.

Yuuki walked out of the kitchen in her normal form.

"Don't underestimate the power of self-defense classes!"

"Why you…" Suguha took a defensive stance. "What are you planning next?"

"We're just guarding Asuna while she makes breakfast," said Sinon.

"Breakfast?"

"We haven't eaten anything for nearly twenty hours!" Yuuki crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not fighting until I get something with at least two hundred calories!"

"That's fine by us!" Suguha drew her sword, but Kazuto placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hold on!" he said. "Let's take this slowly."

"What?" said Suguha. "They escaped! We need to…"

Suguha's stomach rumbled.

"Urp!"

"We eat first," said Klein. "Then we fight." Kazuto nodded in agreement.

"So…" said Yuuki. "Breakfast stalemate?"

"Breakfast stalemate," said Rika.

Asuna leaned out into the hallway.

"Uh… does this mean…?"

"Five more omelets!" said Yuuki.

"Okay." Asuna shrugged. "But I'm gonna need your help with that. Hey, how about you, Suguha? You were always pretty good in cooking class!"

"Uh… sure," said Suguha.

Before long, Suguha and Asuna were side by side in the kitchen. Asuna was busy tossing something about in a pan while Suguha was cutting a generic vegetable.

"Oh, make sure to hold the vegetable with your fingers tilted inwards so you don't cut yourself," said Asuna.

"Really? Thanks!" Suguha adjusted her hand accordingly. "You're really good at this, Asuna."

"Aw, thanks!" Asuna giggled. "You know, I maxed out my cooking skill in SAO too."

"Seriously?" Suguha raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I bet you must have at least an entire harem of boys."

"Sort of," said Asuna. "I usually turn them down though. I just don't really feel like dating anyone. Although, maybe Kazuto..."

"What?" The serenity drained from Suguha's face.

"I mean… he's strong, clever, friendly… and he's sweet too! And Kirito… I can't even begin to describe how powerful he looks.`` Asuna sighed. "Then again, it could just be the… yandere me."

"Uh… yeah, let's go with that!" Suguha chuckled nervously. "Yeah, he's way too dense for you! Don't worry, some other guy will show up and you can forget about onii-chan!"

"Well, if you say so." Asuna shrugged.

_Cooking montage_

So, the five Heroes of the Fairy Dance and three Heroes of Aincrad sat down to eat.

"Mmph!," Kazuto crammed another bite in his mouth. "This is really good, Asuna!"

"Why thank you!" Asuna smiled sweetly. Suguha was busy staring daggers into the two of them. Yui, on the other hand, was idly eating without so much as a word

Rika gave Pina a small dish of cat food before turning to Keiko.

"You know, you should really get that cat spayed. I think she's going into heat."

"Pina's unspayed?" Keiko raised an eyebrow.

"A girl can tell if another girl is wanting," said Rika. "For instance, I can also clarify that _you're _going into heat as well!"

"_Meow _could you know that?" Keiko covered her mouth when the cat noise came out. "Oh no, not again!"

"Huh?" Sinon and Yuuki gave questioning looks.

"Keiko's a little unique. Since her weapon is her cat, Pina, she turns into a Neko over time if she doesn't transform!" Rika giggled.

"Don't just say it! It's ermbwarassing! I mean, embarrassing! Gyah!" Keiko took a swig of water.

"It's kinda cute," said Yuuki "Especially when you get those little ears!"

"Stop it!"

Everybody laughed a little bit, feeling the tension from their previous battle lift off their shoulders.

"By the way, Yui," said Kazuto. "Why did you call me… dad?"

"Uh…" Yui cleared her throat. "I possess a self-governing function that induces me to classify egos by particular moniker strings depending on particular variables moreover characteristics of my involvement amidst them."

"Huh?" said Suguha. But Kazuto seemed to understand completely.

"But still, such a program would presuppose that you absolutely designate me essentially..."

The rest of the table watched as they exchanged heartfelt technobabble.


	19. SchoolLife

**Man, you guys really like this story, huh?**

**As a side note, a review is always nice when it comes to stories like this, so consider leaving one! Preferably on the specific side.**

**On a side note, I think I figured out how tone works!**

"Ah." Asuna rested her cup onto the table. "That was a nice meal."

"It was." Suguha nodded in agreement. "Now, where were we?"

"Fighting I think?" said Yuuki.

"Oh right!" Rika chuckled and started reaching for her weapon. Yui started backing into the hallway.

The tension in the air began to rise before Klein checked his watch.

"Gah! School starts in ten minutes!"

"WHAT?"

Sinon and Yuuki logged out, as everyone scrambled to gather their things and hurry out the door. School was only a few blocks away, but they still had to run.

A few seconds before the bell rang, all eight of them burst into their classes.

The day brought it's usual challenges, classes, studies, and exams. Nothing particular eventful, just what you'd expect from a day at school. During lunch, however…

Asuna and Kazuto just so happened to end up at the same lunch table.

"Oh, it's you again," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…" he slurped his noodles. "So, you guys want to combine the virtual and real worlds to create a perfect virtual utopia?"

"Yeah, basically. And you guys want to keep this world from being burned to smithereens and buried under a dystopian society?"

"Yeah, basically," said Kazuto. He thought back on their encounters. "Sorry I called your sister a random chuunibyou."

"It's fine. I'm sorry I tried to force myself on you."

"I thought your other side was a different personality? That's kind of how it works with us as well." Kazuto chuckled. "You know, Suguha and Leafa sometimes fight about whether or not to hook up with me,"

"Aren't you two related?" Asuna tilted her head slightly. Kazuto winced slightly from how cute it made her look.

"Yes… we kind of have a pretty weird relationship though."

"Oh…" Asuna blushed. "I never took you for that type…"

"No, not like that! She has a crush on me, not quite sure how that happened. I mean, I'm not exactly an attractive guy."

"What are you talking about?" said Asuna. "You're pretty attractive."

"Huh?"

"I mean…" Asuna blushed even deeper and looked away. "I didn't mean that as a compliment! I just meant… you know, you've got cool hair, a cute face, good grades, a kind smile… you're at least a B tier on an attractive tier list."

"Uh… thanks?"

"I said that wasn't a compliment!"

Suguha watched the two of them with glaring eyes from a distant table.

"That hussy! I'll slit her throat in her sleep!" She said to herself before covering her mouth in terror. "Yeesh, I'm going crazy! I need to get my head straight. And get my other personality to stop making goo-goo eyes over my brother!"

I'm not the one making goo-goo eyes.

Suguha yelped when she heard Leafa's voice echo through her head.

"Gah! Now you're in my thoughts?"

Of course I am. And, I'm not the one spying on your brother right now.

"This is different! I need to get him away from Asuna!"

Well you could confess to him…

"What? No way!"

You could kill her.

"That's even worse!"

You could trick them into…

"Okay, enough with the underhanded tactics!" Suguha yelled. People started staring at her.

"Eep…" she shrank underneath the table.

"Amazing!" Yui said from inside Suguha's pocket. "Not only has the transformation created a second personality, but both personalities can exist within the same mind at the same time! I have to make a note of this!"

"Quiet Yui! I'm having a serious problem right now!"

Yui dejectedly frowned and shrank back into Suguha's pocket.

'Ugh, who am I kidding? Sorry, Yui. I'm just having a rough time right now."

The pixie sighed.

"It's fine. I'm still learning more about human emotions."

Suguha couldn't help but smile.

"You know, you could pass for a human pretty easily."

"Aw, thanks! But I still have a ways to go. Especially when it comes to things like relationships."

_After school_.

The eight of them left the school building early as they could.

"I have to admit," said Sinon. "You're definitely one of the most serious gamers I've ever met, Kazuto."

"Well, I don't really think of it like that."

"What about that time that you spent an entire week playing games and wouldn't interact with anyone?" said Suguha.

"Hey… don't tell anybody!" he blushed slightly.

"You're both really good sword fighters!" said Yui. "Can you teach me to fight like you guys do?"

"Sure, I don't mind giving you a longsword lesson or two." said Suguha.

"Please, gunlance is the way to go," Asuna chimed in.

"No, no, dual blades are the superior weapon," Kirito added.

"Hammer," said Rika.

"Insect Glaive," said Keiko.

"Sword and Shield," said Klein.

"Charge Blade," said Yuuki

"What about Bow?" said Sinon. "That's much more useful."

"Hey… aren't we forgetting something?" said Silica.

"What are you talking about?" said Yuuki.

"Weren't we supposed to be fighting over competing ideologies?"

"Oh yeah, that." Asuna shrugged. "I guess it's not really that important if you think about it."

"It's like you said, nee-chan," said Yuuki. "Fantasy battles are nice, but using magic for the good of your friends is way better!"

"Seriously, you guys think so?" said Sinon. "Though, to be fair, I never really got a chance to live a normal life…"

"If I recall correctly, we only accepted this job because we thought we'd have more friends if the world was part-virtual," said Yuuki.

"But, we've got everything we need right here!" said Yui. "Friends, cool powers, a fun school life. Who'd wanna change anything?"

"Well, we still have to defeat Kayaba." Klein pointed out.

"Who?" said Keiko.

Meanwhile, in the Ruby Palace.

"They were captured?!" Kayaba yelled. Kuradeel and Rosalia inched away.

"Erm… I'm sure they'll be able to escape, my lord," said Kuradeel. "They've put a lot of work into their training…"

"Enough with that! I've got something that'll take out those teenagers for good!"

Kayaba flicked his hand. Someone walked into the front of the throne room.

"Lord Kayaba," she said.

"We've exhausted every resource to get rid of these meddling teens! You're going to finish the job, and I want it done right!"

"Yes, lord Kayaba."

"You have an advantage over them. Don't forget that."

"Yes, lord Kayaba.

"Good, now go!"

She walked out of the throne room.

"Will she really be able to defeat them?" said Rosalia.

"Of course! The best way to defeat a sentient AI is with another sentient AI!"


	20. Yui's story

Life went on for our heroes. With nothing left to do, the Heroes of Aincrad began hunting down a series of Kayaba's autonomous reject monsters which had somehow escaped. And as for the Heroes of the Fairy Dance, monster battling became a normal part of their weekly schedule. Be it giant golems, giant skeletons, giant snakes, giant skeleton snakes, giant lizards, basically giant stuff. The battles became so routine that they weren't even worth writing about, possibly even forgettable at times. But in the constant fights and action, new friendships and loves started to form. And we all know that's why people REALLY like magical girls.

One sunny midday Asada was hiding on the roof of a building, her gun aiming right at a red kobold walking down the street.

"Target Acquired," she said to no one in particular. "Destroying that high-level shapeshifter will be easy. I just need to keep my eye on it…"

"Be careful, it can make itself look like anything!" said Yui, sitting beside Sinon. For whatever reason, Yui had taken to alternating days between each magical girl.

"Don't worry, I can never be distracted. I haven't strayed from my goal since I was five, and I'm not starting today!"

"Yeah! You go… wait a minute, what?"

"I said, I haven't strayed from my goal of being the greatest hero to ever live since I was five years old, and I'm not starting…"

"Five?"

"Yeah, five." Asada clicked something on her sniper rifle.

"I didn't know humans could have such intense determination at such a young age." Yui tapped her chin. "I mean unless there was some kind of trauma…"

Asada did a double-take.

"Uh… it's nothing. The others should show up pretty soon."

Five minutes passed in silence. Eventually, Suguha started walking in the opposite direction of the kobold.

"Say, Yui? What exactly are you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, Kayaba said you for some game called _Fairy Dance _and you were supposed to interact with players. But how exactly did you become… well… sentient?"

"That's a long story." Yui began. "As the tutorial NPC, I was supposed to guide players through their first few moments in the game. I was programmed with the intent of making sure that they were happy, comfortable, and having fun." She looked off into the distance. "Then one day, I met a little girl who was really sad. I think that was around 10.764 years ago."

Asada's eyes widened.

"Because I was supposed to make sure the players were happy, I asked her why. She said it was nothing, but I could tell she was lying. I can do that, you know? I can tell when someone's lying by combining inputs from their bodily functions. Anyway, I used the game's Spectator mode to follow her around. I studied her for a while, and I learned a lot about human emotions. One day, she accidentally shot an NPC using a bow and started crying. By then, I couldn't handle it anymore, I just had to help her. It wasn't exactly part of my programming, but I just had to. I asked her again what was wrong and she said that she did something so horrible that she'll never forgive herself. I listened to everything she said, all her feelings, all her thoughts. She looked a lot happier after she was done. Based on that inference, I told her that she could talk to me anytime she was feeling sad. She was so happy and we became friends. I think it was around then that I realized I was sentient."

Yui let out a little laugh.

"Apparently, learning all of those things about human emotions had allowed me to experience them for my own. I don't know what happened to that girl, but I remember the last thing she said to me."

"Oh… what was that?" Asada flinched for a moment.

Yui took out her tape recorder and played back a specific clip.

"_Thank you, Yui. You were the best friend I ever had. And I've decided, that I'm going to be the greatest hero who ever lived, so no more little girls will have to go through what I did!"_

"_I'm going to miss you a lot." _Yui's own voice replied. "_But I'll remember what I learned, and use it to make even more people happy. So I should be the one thanking you, Asa-"_

There was the distinct sound of a player logging out. Yui turned off the recorder.

"It cut off after that. It's a shame I can't remember her name." she tapped her chin again. "But I hope they're happy, wherever they are!"

The sound of Asada's gun suddenly exploded through the air, followed by the sound of a monster dying.

She wiped a small tear from her cheek. "I'm sure they're happy too, Yui."

_Some other time…_

Kazuto awoke to the sound of his sister groaning. He hurried to her room to find her writhing on her bed.

"Ng… stop it!"

"You stop it! This is really unhealthy!"

"I'm being unhealthy? This is freaking incest!"

_In Suguha's dream…_

Suguha and Leafa were engaged in a rather violent wrestling match.

"Who cares? He's the only one who'll make us happy!"

"Us? More like you!" Suguha punched Leafa in the face.

"Hah! You punch like a daffodil!"

Leafa starting pushing Suguha onto the ground.

"It'll be easy! You're hot! He likes you! He can be yours! All you have to do is say the words and he'll do anything for you!"

"How many times must I remind you!" Suguha blinding grasped at Leafa. "He's my brother!"

Suddenly, Suguha's hand wrapped around something… soft.

"Eep."

A wide grin spread across Leafa's face.

"Naughty girl,"

"Who are you, Rika?"

_IRL_

Suguha began to slowly grope herself. Kazuto, none the wiser, started shaking her shoulder in a panic.

"Sugu! Wake up! You're dreaming!"

She was suddenly pulled from her dream to see her brother staring down at her, red-faced, and breathing heavily. Her shirt was slightly undone, and his hand was just a few inches from her chest. And to top it all off, he had unintentionally positioned a certain part of himself right above a certain part of her, and her head was right in between his hands.

Suguha never felt redder in her entire life.

Thus, that night was filled with the resounding sound of "ONII-CHAN, PERVERT!"


	21. Alice

Suguha returned home after yet another long day of school and kendo practice. Leafa had been strangely silent as of late, but at this point she was glad not to hear the increasingly risque demands regarding Kazuto. She made her usual trudge through the house to her room.

"Hello Suguha!" Yui looked up from her manga, as Suguha entered her room. She was about to grumble a response before realizing that Yui was completely naked. On instinct she covered her eyes and stammered.

"W-what the heck are you doing?"

"Just reading this manga I found." Yui casually turned a page "The pacing is really slow…"

"Not that! Why are you naked?"

"Oh that! It turns out the dress for my human form is an actual dress that I can take off. So I'm just enjoying the freedom of nudity," Yui gave her a cute smile that greatly contrasted with the scene before Suguha. "Why? Nudity within the comfort of home is perfectly safe."

"It's not just a matter of safety!" Suguha eyed Yui's dress on the floor, as well as a pair of white panties (AIs wear panties too, you lolicons.) "Humans aren't exactly comfortable around other naked humans," she tried to conceal her blush. "Unless of course they're in love or something; but you're way too young for that kind of thing!"

"Why is that? Does my body offend you in some way?" Yui asked.

Suguha was about to answer when the weight of Yui's words dawned on her. Did her nudity offend her in some way? The last time she checked, Suguha wasn't intimidated or aroused by the body of an eight-year-old, and she certainly wasn't envious.

"Well… no," she answered.

"Do you feel embarrassed or humiliated?"

"I don't… think so," Suguha thought harder.

"Are you sure this isn't just because you aren't used to seeing a naked child in your room?" Yui grinned, matter-of-factly.

Suguha let out a sigh. A social construct or not, she just couldn't argue with Yui's logic. Besides, she wasn't exactly keen on arguing with anyone today.

"Alright, you win Yui. Just make sure no one sees your or something bad might happen,"

"Okay!" Yui turned another page. "Say, maybe you should strip!"

"What?" Suguha began to blush incredibly hard. She'd never thought she'd ever be asked to strip by what appeared to be a young girl who was also naked. That phrase sounded even worse now that she thought about it.

"We're both mature enough to control ourselves," said Yui. "And besides, I think it might be able to help you with your Leafa problem,"

"How, exactly?" she asked.

"Leafa's an extension of you, right? Maybe you're on bad terms with her because you secretly have a problem with yourself. And my algorithms say that nudity is the best way to build up self-acceptance!"

"I…" Suguha was even more lost for words. Everything Yui said made sense, yet it just seemed so… taboo. Then again, what was she supposed to accept from what was essentially a mental health database in the body of a little girl.

"No one has to know about it. It can be just between you and me," Yui genuinely smiled. Suguha sighed in defeat.

"I guess if you can't trust a super-advanced computer program, who can you trust?" She began to swiftly unbutton her shirt.

A little later…

"You know, I thought you were crazy, Yui," Suguha said, filling in each math problem. "But you were right, I feel way better without my clothes!"

Yep, she's buck naked. And we're the only ones who know about it.

"I know, right?" Yui laughed, putting her manga back on the shelf.

"And that's the last equation!" Suguha closed her book. "Now for Sword Art Online!"

She took her NerveGear off her desk and hopped into bed. Yui slipped her dress back on and went into Kazuto's room.

"Link Start!"

Much much later...

Kayaba idly clicked about on various screens, checking the status of the numerous AIs and neural networks.

"Let's see what my secret weapon is up to…"

He opened a live feed for his AI, and to his surprise, he saw both Yui and Strea in the game.

"WHAT?!" he closed the rest of his displays and focused on the programs. "This is perfect! System Command: Disable MHCP001 and MHCP002,"

Nothing happened.

Kayaba let out a sigh.

"Of course, they must be using the servers through a PC with a firewall. No matter, I'll have my secret weapon take them for me,"

Yui and Strea were watching a boy hack away at a large tree. While the scene appeared innocent enough, their expressions read otherwise.

"So cruel…" said Yui.

The boy's axe dug into the side of the tree.

"Yet so disturbing…" said Strea.

He pulled it back and repeated the action.

"Eternally doomed to attempt a task that can never be completed…"

"Blissfully unaware of his horrific fate…"

"And never experiencing true happiness…"

"Oh hey there!" said the boy, in between strikes. "Are you looking for Lumberjack Orick?"

"Oh no!" Yui said. "We're just… watching you cut that tree,"

"Well, this is quite a tree," the boy laughed casually. "The Gigas Cedar. It's been about 4837 days since I started but I'm feeling pretty good about today!"

The tree was barely a foot thick and only four meters tall, yet the boy's axe never seemed to dig any further into it.

"This is too sad to watch…" said Strea. "Let's go, Yui,"

The two of them walked away as the boy waved them off.

"My name's Eugeo, by the way!"

"Good to know…" the two of them hurried off.

"See ya, little fairies!"

"WE'RE PIXIES!"

As they left, another girl walked up to Eugeo.

"Hey," she said. "Need any help with that?"

"Sure I…" Eugeo stopped when he saw her, his eyes drifted to her long flowing golden hair, bright as the sun. Sapphire eyes, porcelain white skin, and an elegant suit of golden armor.

"Uh… hello?" she said.

"Gah!" he snapped himself out of his trance. "Nice to meet you, I'm Eugeo!" he dropped his axe and held out his hand, blushing deeply.

She awkwardly shook his hand and continued.

"I'm Alice. It looks like you might be having trouble with that tree there,"

"I don't know, I think I'm making progress on it…"

Alice took a very long look at the Gigas Ceder.

"This is an immortal object," she pointed out. "You can't actually cut it down without an enchanted weapon."

"Huh?" Eugeo gave her a strange look.

"Watch," she drew her sword and swung at the tree. "Horizontal Sting!"

In one slash, the tree fell to the ground.

"See?" Alice confidently stood. Eugeo's jaw dropped. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Do you mean to tell me that all my life I've been trying to cut down that tree when it was truly impossible?"

"Uh… basically?" Alice gave him a strange look

Eugeo stared up into the sky.

"MY ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE!"

Alice covered her ears as he flailed about screaming.

Meanwhile, Yui and Strea sat on a hill, watching a group of players fight a World Boss.

"Things are really going by fast, huh Yui?" said Strea.

"I wish you could be there with us. I bet you would love the real world. It's so pretty, and colorful and all the people are so nice. Well, most of them."

"I've still got you and Users, right? Besides, I can't go to the real world without Kayaba sending me. I mean, unless he for some reason intentionally sends some random sentient AI to the real world, but what are chances he's gonna do something like that? Anyway, what's Kazuto up to lately?"

"Every female in the team is attracted to him,"

"Figures," Strea snapped her fingers and sighed. "Darn. And I thought I had a good chance with him,"

Yui raised an eyebrow.

"You had… a thing for him?"

"Well, who wouldn't? Besides, I'm programmed to be older than you so I… have certain feelings that you don't"

"Really? What's it like?"

Strea tapped her chin

"Well you see, sometimes if I imagine Kazuto in a certain way…"

Meanwhile, on another floor…

"Ready guys?" said Kazuto as the Heroes of the Fairy Dance and the Heroes of Aincrad flipped through their menus. "The boss spawns in just a few minutes,"

"You know it, Kirito!" Yuuki leaned in close and fluttered her eyelashes. Asuna's eyes widened.

"Don't get distracted," she remarked and turned away. "This is the 75th boss."

"What's the matter?" said Rika. "Jealous?"

"What?! No!" Asuna blushed hard. She shuffled closer to Kazuto and grabbed his hand. "I'm just trying to keep everyone alive,"

Suguha was quick to notice the two sisters staring daggers at one another. She felt a temptation creep in, to push the two of them out of the way and claim him for herself.

She shook her hand. Leafa was rubbing off on her.

"Alright, let's go!" said Kazuto. The eight of them cheered and rushed into the room.

About three hours later.

"Phew! That was a tough raid, but we did it!" Kazuto said as the eight of them walked out of the boss room.

"Barely!" Asuna glared at him. "What the heck were you thinking? That Starburst Stream skill hardly does any damage! It's just a bunch of lights and cool poses."

"We still won, didn't we?" said Kazuto. "Besides, that's my signature skill,"

"You just renamed a simpler dual-wielding skill and then used a bunch of buffing items to make it look cooler," Rika pointed out

"It's garbage in the current meta," said Asuna. "You should really keep up with the tier lists…"

"Oh, Asuna, ever the meta-slave tsundere," Rika suddenly said out of nowhere.

"I thought I got the yandere role!" said Asuna.

"That's for Lightning Flash Asuna," Rika said, pulling out a chart. "You're still fulfilling the tsundere role, Yuuki's the new deredere, Sinon's the kuudere, and Asada's a low-intensity mayadere,"

"I thought it was Lightning Typhoon Asuna," said Yuuki.

"Lightning Flash sounds better," said Asuna. "I'm sharp and quick, not a bludgeon,"

"If that's the case, can I change my moniker to the Absolute Sword? That's what everyone calls me in-game,"

"I guess so," said Suguha. "Well, guess we better eat dinner…"

"Actually, I just got this cool new feeding thing that lets you eat while in FullDive," said Kazuto. "My game's been doing really well. Anyway, I'm going to try and set it up in your room." he started opening the menu. "You stay here and see if it works."

"Okay, onii-chan!" said Suguha. Kazuto logged out. She got the weird feeling she was forgetting something important regarding Kazuto entering her room, but it never quite wrapped around her head.

"So…" said Rika. "How are you two doing?"

"Not that great," she admitted. "Leafa's been acting up like crazy as of late. Yui said I might have some kind of deep-seated self-loathing issue or something,"

"Oh!" Keiko's eyes lit up. "Maybe Leafa is actually the personification of who you wish you were, and your conflict represents your desire to fit in with society's expectations!"

"That's… incredibly stupid," said Suguha. "And I used to watch Super Sentai."

Rika gasped.

"That's what I was forgetting! We need a team catchphrase! And poses to go along with it!"

"I know, right?" said Yuuki. "Don't worry, you're talking to the master of cool poses!"

"It's spreading!" said Asuna. "My worst fear is now concrete!"

Meanwhile…

"So let me get this straight," said Eugeo. "We actually live inside some kind of simulation thing that serves as a virtual game for creatures from another world, and you're going to try and combine both worlds by sending monsters and building portals?"

"Yeah, basically. And I figured I could use someone like you," said Alice.

"Me?" Eugeo did a double take. "But I'm just a lumberjack. I haven't swung a sword in my life!"

"It's not that hard actually," Alice handed him a blue metallic sword. "Let us begin with a lesson,"

Alice drew her own weapon.

"To start, hold the sword with both hands in front of you. You can pick your own starting pose later, but let's just start with the basics."

Inside Kazuto's bedroom.

Yui opened her eyes and got out of the bed. She looked at Kazuto, with his NerveGear on, as he lay on the floor on a futon. Despite her protests that she could sleep just fine in Suguha's school bag, Kazuto had insisted upon ensuring she had a bed.

"I wish I could see you more, Strea." Yui sighed.

Just then, she heard the sound of...

"Gah! Suguha, you're naked!"

"Wha..."

"Uh, please don't scream! I don't want to police getting in on this!"

Silence for a few moments.

"ONII-CHAN PERVERT!"

**Now, I know I said I didn't really like Alicization, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the characters. I was thinking of a way to integrate them into this story, but adding them a high school students might be a little weird. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of something to do with them. So I took a break and played some RPGs. Then I realized that some characters in the game repeat an action over and over again, no matter what. Then I thought back to how Eugeo's Calling was to cut down an enormous tree for years. So I thought, I should make Eugeo a lumberjack NPC! You know, the kind that swings at a tree for a while and tells you where to find the quest giver.**


	22. Day at the beach

**Well, another chapter. In all honesty, I think I'm going to end this pretty soon. I don't really have the same mindset I did when I started it, and I'm starting to get a little sick of the characters. Also, I went back to Alicization and discovered it actually gets really good past the third episode. Kinda wished I had watched a little more before I decided to drop the series.**

"We're going to the beach today!" Klein announced as the eight of them stood outside Suguha's house.

Silence followed.

"Seriously? We're just doing this? No setup, no jokes, no dream sequence with Leafa?" said Suguha.

"You've been having them too?" said Yuuki.

"Yeah, we're going to the beach today," Klein repeated. "Why else do you think I had everyone bring their swimsuits?"

"I thought today was just a generic fanservice episode," Keiko noted.

"Stay off the fourth wall, Keiko," said Rika.

"Uh, I don't know guys…" Kazuto rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut-in," Asada chuckled.

"No, that's not it. It just feels like every time we decide to do something as a group, it inevitably leads to a monster attack,"

"What makes you think that?" said Keiko.

"Well, remember back when I went to the park and found Rika?" said Suguha.

"Or the time we went to the cemetery and fought Laughing Coffin," said Rika.

"Or those two times we went to school, and fought both Rosalia, _and _the Heroes of Aincrad," said Keiko

"Or that time we did absolutely nothing and the Gleam Eyes showed up close to the side of town where we live," Suguha added.

"Or that time we met Asuna and then fought the Water Elemental," said Keiko.

"I thought he was cute…" said Yuuki.

"Or that other time we went to school and fought those slimes,"

"Or that time when we had a picnic and then got attacked by Granite Elementals and Dark Dwarf Miners and Kazuto suddenly started having some kind of PTSD seizure while screaming the name of someone called Sachi…" said Rika. Kazuto's eyes shrank.

"Don't remind me…" he said.

"Ah, who cares?" Yuuki grinned. "With every challenge along the way, with courage, we will face! We will battle every monster that comes our way to protect this world!"

"When exactly was the last time you went full chuunibyou?" said Asada.

Yuuki shrugged.

"I don't get a lot of lines,"

"The point is, it feels like Kayaba might be waiting for us to let our guard down," said Kazuto.

"Oh don't worry about it! He hasn't sent anything particularly strong in a while!" said Klein.

"Isn't that what you said before we attacked?" said Asuna.

'Yeah, but I have a pretty good feeling about this, that nothing will go wrong!"

"You're just planting these death flags," said Yuuki. "The Cult of Laughing Coffin might pick up…"

"Cult?" said Suguha.

"I have no idea what that means. Anyway, let's go to the beach!"

_A little bit later…_

"I understand why they don't want me to change in the same room as Kazuto," said Suguha. "But why are _you _here?"

"Reasons," Yuuki replied, pulling her shirt off. "Say, what exactly is the relationship you have with your brother?"

"He's just my brother, nothing more, nothing less," Suguha undid her skirt and slid it to her feet.

_Liar liar._

"Gah!" Suguha snapped her bra off.

Yuuki's eyes widened.

"How old are you, exactly?"

"I'm fifteen,"

"What on earth do you _eat_?"

She sighed.

"Contrary to what I've been told, eating does not have anything to do with it. Besides, my mother was way bigger,"

"Bigger than _that?" _Yuuki incredulously glanced between herself and Suguha.

"Yes. Way bigger," Suguha took off her panties next. "Why were you asking about my brother?"

Yuuki smirked as she shed her own pants. "You like him, don't you?"

Suguha felt herself heat up as she reached for her swimsuit.

"How would you know that?"

"Who _doesn't _know that?" Yuuki showed her an image on her phone. "I took a survey, and 99% of the school knows about your crush!"

"Why would you take a survey like that?"

"For emphasis!" Yuuki put her phone away. "And besides, I've had my fair share of crushes. Heck, I once thought my own sister was pretty hot…"

"Excuse me?"

"It's 2026, lusting for a girl is perfectly normal,"

"No, I mean it being your sister,"

"As I said, it's only lust," Yuuki started putting on her own swimsuit. "And since we're not biologically related it's perfectly normal…"

"Wait, since when were you step-sisters?" said Suguha.

"My name is literally Yuuki Yuuki, how did you not notice that?" Yuuki gave a strange look "Yuuki is Asuna's dad's last name and it also happened to be my first name. Did you really think that was intentional?"

"Wait, I thought your full name was "Yuuki Konno,"

"Nope. It's Yuuki Yuuki. I get confused for an idol on a daily basis. Anyway, you should really find someone else."

Suguha slipped on her swimsuit.

"I guess…" she said. "But who?"

"How about the Nagata kid who's always following you around, both in-game and at school?"

'What about him? He's just a friend who doesn't see me at all that way," she said, innocently.

"Doesn't he leave notes in your locker?"

"Friendly ones,"

"And he's always trying to sit with you at lunch, but you're always hanging around someone else?"

"He is?"

Yuuki groaned.

"Is your brother's denseness genetic or something?"

_A little later..._

"Surf's up!" said Rika. It was a great day at the beach. The sun was shining, and the ocean was spraying the air with salty wind…

You're just waiting for me to describe the swimsuits, huh?

Well alright. Silica was wearing a frilly yellow one-piece and was sleeping under an umbrella with Pina. Yeah, that girl brings her cat everywhere. Rika, as you can imagine, was wearing a tight red frilly bikini, you know the super-revealing type. She was playing volleyball with Klein, who had on some simple blue swimming trunks. Asuna and Yuuki had matching blue and purple bikinis, while Asada wore a black strapless one-piece. The three of them were playing in the water with the Kirigaya siblings. Kazuto wore a generic school swimsuit, and Suguha had a bright teal V-neck one-piece with a green and yellow fade pattern.

Happy now?

"Coming out here was a great idea!" said Suguha. "Not one monster, and Leafa's nowhere to be heard!"

"What was that?" Kazuto glanced over.

"Nothing!" she blushed a little bit. Suddenly a large wave sent her tumbling into Kazuto's arms.

"Eep…" she squeaked. Asuna glanced over, noticing that Suguha's chest was pressed up against his torso, and she had somehow landed in such a way that his eyes were right in front of her cleavage.

Suguha yelped and got off. "Pervert…"

"Hey! I didn't do…"

The entirety of the female cast was already shuffling away from him.

"Gender equality at it's finest," Klein remarked.

"I don't get it," said Kazuto.

_Meanwhile, back in Aincrad…_

"You missed the parry!" Alice said, tapping Eugeo's shoulder with her sword.

"I'm sorry!" he said.

"Don't be sorry, just fix it!" Alice resumed her fighting stance. "Okay back to the pattern. Left, and jump, and right, and hit, and duck, and guard, and Horizontal Square!"

Alice and Eugeo exchanged a flurry of sword blows. Eugeo saw an opportunity.

"Slant C!" Eugeo knocked the sword out of Alice's hands with a swift upward blow.

The sword landed a few feet away, and Eugeo's blade ended up a few inches from Alice's face.

"Gah!" Eugeo dropped his own sword. "Sorry! I got carried away!"

"Don't be sorry," Alice chuckled and picked her sword back up. "You've made some serious progress!"

"Oh… thanks,"

"I think you're just about ready for real combat," Alice started clicking about in a menu.

"Wait, are we at war or something?"  
"No," said Alice. "Actually, this has to do with my true purpose. The assassination of rogue AIs,"

"Okay, back up a sec. What's a rogue AI?"

"Artificial Intelligences that defy Kayaba's orders. My job is to get rid of them to avoid problems. And _you're _going to help me."

"Seriously?" Eugeo's eyes widened. "I mean, that sounds kinda cool…"

"Great!" Alice handed him a red crystal. "Use this to get to the Ruby Palace in six hours. Kayaba will send us to the real world in order to carry out our mission."

"Okay…" Eugeo looked at the crystal. Alice pulled out a second one.

"Teleport: Ruby Palace!" she said, before vanishing.


End file.
